


This Will Be The Day (you come out)

by swarthwhore



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Fairgame, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Trans Female Character, Trans Ruby Rose (RWBY), as does a lot of other stuff, college comes later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23422843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swarthwhore/pseuds/swarthwhore
Summary: They see you as small and helplessThey see you as just a boySurprise when they find out that a girl will soon run wildPrepare for your greatest momentsPrepare for your finest hourThe dream that you've always dreamed is suddenly about to flowerBeen listening to the RWBY soundtracks a lot lately and been applying lyrics to various things, and Ruby gives off big trans girl energy to me (as do others)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 53





	1. Red Like Roses

Ruby heard the door to her father’s bedroom close and cautiously slipped out of bed, tiptoeing to her own door and slowly pulling it open just a crack. She silently knelt and peeped out the opening, waiting for the light from under Tai’s door to go out. After what felt like an eternity, the hallway outside became totally dark, and she stepped over to her closet, pulling several bags and boxes out from its depths. She discarded the plain white shirt she was currently wearing and retrieved the black padded bra from its hiding place and fastened it around herself. The cups were decidedly empty, much to her dismay, so she grabbed some tissue and stuffed them so she could at least fake having a chest that brought her joy. Stripping off her boxers, she grimaced.

“Here comes the hard part…” she groaned. Having just turned 17, hormones were raging through her body, and unfortunately, some parts liked testosterone more than others. She grabbed a pair of red underwear from the nearest bag, smiling as her fingers rubbed the soft fabric. It didn’t match her bra, but when you’re a fully closeted trans girl trying to thrift cheap gender-affirming clothes without anyone finding out, you took what you could get. And it was her favorite color. Grabbing her phone from her nightstand, she swiped to the tucking walkthrough she kept saved behind 4 phony folders. She’d done it before and was pretty confident in her memory of the steps, but better safe than sorry. When she was satisfied with that, she slid the red underwear up her shaved legs, followed by the sheer black tights to keep everything secure. Thankfully that was one thing she hadn’t had to buy, she’d found these in the attic in a box of her mom’s old clothes, and by some miracle they even fit her! Ruby paused at the memory of her mother.

It had been 12 years since Summer Rose disappeared, but Ruby wasn’t sure who took it harder, her or her half-sister Yang. Summer had been Yang’s second mom to disappear (thought not under such grim circumstances), but she’d also been the only one to see and understand who Ruby really was. Ruby could hardly remember the day she was told her mom most likely would never be coming back, but it felt like a part of her had died that day. A part that she had been slowly nursing back to health over the past couple years, a part named Ruby Rose. No one else had called her that since then, but it was how she referred to herself in private.

Pushing such deep thoughts from her mind, Ruby turned her attention back to getting dressed. Grabbing a white box, she removed the lid and held aloft probably her favorite article of clothing that she owned. It was a long-sleeved black dress with red trim along the sleeves and hem, plus a high collar that would hopefully at least partially obscure her Adams’ apple. She hadn’t thrifted this, so it did cost her a significant chunk of her allowance, but in her opinion it was worth it. Pulling it on over her head, shivers ran down her spine as the fine fabric slipped over her skin, and looking in the mirror, Ruby smiled. At at least a quick glance, the outfit combined with her shoulder-length hair actually made her look like a girl. Maybe she had some chance of passing tonight after all.

Deeper in the dress box was a black waist-cincher with red laces Ruby doubted she even needed. She was pretty skinny already, but for the most part she was as straight as a beanpole, so maybe some curves wouldn’t be a bad thing. Wrapping it around herself, she did the laces in front so she could see what she was doing, even if she had no idea how to do it to begin with. After a little bit of struggling, she was satisfied with how it looked, especially since it was primarily for decoration instead of function to begin with. Opening the last box revealed two black and red combat boots, similar to the boots Ruby wore almost every day, but just a hint more feminine. Maybe once her current boots broke she could convince Tai to let her wear these as replacements. Lacing them up, she stood up and walked over to the desk in the corner of her room. Opening the bottom drawer, she pulled out a mirror, a couple brushes, and various bottles of makeup. Checking her phone for the time, she cursed inwardly. There was no way she could do her makeup and get to the club in time to meet Neo, she’d have to text the other girl she was gonna be a little late. The wand of her mascara was dangerously close to her eye when her phone buzzed with a response a minute later. Satisfied with her lashes, Ruby checked her phone to find a message from Neo about also being late, apparently her brother had been hogging the bathroom.

“She has a brother? I didn’t know that. Although I guess you don’t really talk about family that often when you meet someone on a sketchy website…” Ruby mumbled to herself as she did her best to put subtle eyeliner around her eyes. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she hardly knew anything about Neo to begin with. Just that her name was short for Neopolitan, and that she was also a trans girl in Vale, although a few years older than Ruby, and much further along in her transition. Oh, and the other girl loved ice cream. They’d sent a couple pictures back and forth, but nothing lewd, since Ruby wasn’t technically of age yet, despite what she’d told Neo. Finishing off her look with some clear lip gloss, she looked herself over in the full length mirror hanging on the bathroom door. Overall, she could definitely pass as a girl from a distance or just a quick once-over, but anything more and it was obvious she wasn’t cis.

Slowly opening the bathroom door, Ruby crept across the room and rested her hand on the opposite door to Yang’s room. Yang went to bed over an hour ago, unusually early for her, but Ruby needed to be sure no one would notice her absence. As the door opened, she stuck her head through the gap into the darkness. She could barely make out her sister on the bed, just a pile of yellow hair poking out from a pile of blankets. There was a loud snore and the hair turned away from the opening, obviously asleep. Pumping her fist and closing the door, Ruby walked over to the toilet, climbing onto the closed lid. There was a loud squeak as the window pane rose up, deafening to Ruby in the silence of the house. She waited a beat, but no other sounds indicated movement elsewhere in the house. Ruby gritted her teeth as she stepped out into the cold, closing the window behind her as she balanced on the roof. Falling off would really make this the worst sneak-out attempt in the history of Remnant, especially if it also outed her to her family.

Solidly on the ground, she opened her phone and opened the Ryde app and input her destination. There was a car a few minutes away, so Ruby decided to just wait and reflect on what she was doing. She’d done some kinda sketchy and creepy things for validation and gender euphoria in the past, but this was by far the riskiest. Those had all been in the comfort of her own room, when no one else was home, but now she was taking a stranger’s car to meet a stranger she met online at a nightclub she was far too young for. Yang would kill her if she found out, if she didn’t die of embarrassment being seen by someone who knew her first. A pair of headlights appeared down the road and Ruby realized two things. One, her dress had no pockets, which meant she’d have to carry her phone in her hand all night, and two, her voice was a dead giveaway. A busy club would probably mask it enough, but the ride there? Nowhere to hide. “Maybe the driver won’t want to talk too much?” she thought as she climbed into the backseat and buckled in.

* * *

Thankfully, the driver hadn’t talked at all. He was an old man Ruby had seen here and there around town, but she didn’t think he recognized her. On the downside of not talking, he had dropped her off not quite at her destination and she didn’t quite know her way around. So now she was wandering around city streets alone, at night. It wasn’t very dark thanks to the full moon overhead and the streetlights here and there, but there were still enough alleyways fully immersed in shadows that Ruby couldn’t help but feel uneasy as she followed the directions on her phone to her destination. There were multiple clubs and bars scattered about, and she could feel the bass from many different speakers at the same time thrumming in her chest as groups of other teens and young adults meandered around her. She was just around the corner from the Grimm Eclipse nightclub when there was a shattering sound as a window across the street exploded outward, the suited body of a burly man flying outward and landing in the road below. “Huh?” Ruby looked up from her phone in distress. Assessing the situation, alarm bells started going off in her head. ‘Oh shit what if the cops come and want to question me as a witness? I didn’t see anything, but I don’t want them to see me like this!’ Similar thoughts were racing through her brain at a lightning place, until a figure appeared in the empty window and jumped down next to the groaning man. She was too far away to make out facial features, but Ruby instantly recognized the mane of bright yellow hair and weird sheer half skirt thing. But it couldn’t be, she was back home sleeping, wasn’t she? Before she could stop herself, the word was already out of her mouth. “Yang?”


	2. I Burn (Yellow Trailer)

“Yang?” Ruby couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Yang was back in her room, sleeping! Ruby had seen her in bed! But here she was, standing next to a guy that had just been blown out of a nightclub window in the back streets of Vale. Ruby watched as the blonde mane jerked up and turned toward her, her stomach doing flips. No, no, no, this was too early, she wasn’t ready to come out to Yang yet. Gods, no, who knew how she was going to react? Wait a minute, was she… _smiling_?

“Oh, hey sis!” Yang was beaming, her angry demeanor instantly gone and replaced with an excited and bubbly persona her sister had rarely seen. Ruby’s heart skipped a beat when she realized what Yang had just said. _‘Did she just call me sis?? Oh shit oh fuck did she already know???’_ She barely knew how to respond, and her next words came tumbling out so fast she could barely even understand herself.

“I- wh-, wh-, what’re you doing here?” Yang sighed and nudged the man next to her with her foot.

“It’s a long story…” she said as her eyes scanned up and down her slowly approaching sister. “Although, judging by your appearance, I’m gonna guess yours is probably a lot longer.” Ruby felt herself blush before changing the subject. 

“Okay, yeah, I guess there’s a lot we need to talk about, but I think the more pressing question is DID YOU KILL THAT GUY?” Yang just waved her hand as if the question was no biggie.

“No, don’t worry, he’s still alive, just unconscious. We should probably get out of here before he wakes up, though. Hope you don’t mind me tagging along to wherever you were going?” Yang asked sheepishly as Ruby checked her phone. The map put her right in front of the club, and several unanswered texts from Neo. Apparently her destination had been the same as Yang’s, but the older girl had gotten there first and trashed the place or something. Ruby hesitantly stuck a finger out and pointed at the shattered window from which Yang and the _unconscious_ man had emerged. 

“Um, I was headed _there_. But the girl I was supposed to meet texted and said some girl showed and started beating up the bouncers and stuff, so now her and her brother are headed back to their place and that’s like hella sketchy, soooo……” Ruby trailed off, doing her best not to bring attention to the fact that she was planning to meet a strange girl at a nightclub far from home. “Where’s Bumblebee?” 

“Parked a couple blocks away, you’re gonna have to go without a helmet though, I need mine to keep this hair in line.” Ruby gestured and Yang led the way, draping an arm over her sister’s shoulders. “So, Ruby Rose, how are things?” The smaller girl shrank a bit under the sudden physical contact and questioning. She hadn’t told Yang her name, had she? Did she just remember it from when they were kids or was she just that good at guessing? How much did she want to spill tonight? Maybe she should just play it safe and just play things close to the chest. Her painfully, dysphoria-inducingly flat chest. She looked up at her sister’s face as they walked, lavender eyes meeting her silver ones.

“You...called me Ruby…” she trailed off, still kind of in shock at everything that was happening.

“Well, yeah, that’s your name, isn’t it?” Yang’s expression softened with uncertainty. It certainly _seemed_ like she was trying to be accommodating of Ruby.

“Uh, yeah, but how did you know about it? I haven’t gone by that in public since Mom disappeared.” At least, she hadn’t meant to. Maybe she’d slipped up recently and Yang had noticed but not said anything? Who cares, she knew now.

“That’s why it sounded so familiar! It’s what Mom called you when you were little!” Yang gasped with realization. “But no, you left Animal Crossing open the other day and your villager is a girl that looks like you named Ruby. Not exactly difficult to put two and two together, dummy.” Ruby scowled as Yang ruffled the brunette’s hair. 

“Oh. Oops.” Ruby couldn’t believe she’d done that. She’d been so good at hiding everything only to slip up in one tiny way. She was half expecting Yang to have said she’d peeked and seen Ruby getting dressed tonight or something. Wait, no, Yang had been asleep when she left, snoring and all. But she was also somehow here. Ruby broke free of her sister’s grasp and whirled on the blonde, accusingly pointing her finger. 

“Hold on a minute, how are you even here??? I looked in your room before I snuck out! I heard you snoring and saw you roll over!” Yang stopped at the sudden outburst, before doubling over and letting laughter overtake her.

“Oh my gods, I can’t believe you actually fell for it!” Ruby just looked at her sister, as confused as ever. “Remember when uncle Qrow showed us that old movie a while back, _Mercury Black’s Day Off_?”

“Yeah…”

“I may have taken some tips from that, especially about how to cover up my own antics.”

“Oh my gods, you didn’t.” Ruby couldn’t believe what she was hearing. If she looked a little closer, she probably would’ve been able to realize it wasn’t actually Yang back at home, and then avoid this whole mess. But here they were, the two girls walking down shadowy back alleys, both out far longer than they should’ve been. Ruby’s mind started filling with different scenarios of how they might get caught, like what if their dad went to check on Ruby during the night and discovered she wasn’t there? He would panic and go to Yang’s room, but she also wouldn’t be there. They could get pulled over by cops on the way back home, but how on earth would Ruby explain her current state of attire? Yang seeing her was bad enough, but if they got escorted home by police? Ruby shuddered to think of the possible outcomes. Thankfully, she was snapped out of her anxiety as the pair rounded a corner, Yang’s bright yellow motorbike Bumblebee parked at the curb a few yards in front of them. Complete with a parking ticket on the small glass cone that passed as a windshield.

“FUCK!” Yang yelled and broke away from Ruby, rushing to grab the slip of paper and squinting at the fine print. She raised her head to look at her little sister. “Shit. Promise not to tell dad?”

“Of course I won’t tell dad,” Ruby sighed. “How would I even explain knowing about it? ‘Oh hey dad I snuck out to go to a club last night as a girl and ran into Yang outside of it because she _also_ snuck out’? There isn’t a single scenario where me telling him about this doesn’t also get me in trouble, so your secret’s sa-mmph!” Her words were cut off as Yang pulled her into a tight hug, the blonde resting her chin on top of the shorter girl’s head. 

“Thanks, sis, I owe you one.” Ruby had some difficulty speaking with her face squished into Yang’s chest, but she managed to mumble out a “No problem” before they broke apart. Stuffing the ticket in her jacket pocket, Yang returned to her bike, grabbing her equally bright yellow helmet from the handlebars and buckling it under her chin. She then swung one leg over the seat and brought herself down, revving the engine to spur Ruby into action. Yang had gotten her bike over two years ago for her 16th birthday, but Ruby had seldom tagged along, their dad being wary of letting both of his kids out on a dangerous machine at the same time. It had taken almost a whole year to convince him to get Ruby her own helmet for her 16th birthday, a matte red and black one that was ever so inconveniently currently hanging on a hook in her room at home. Hesitantly, she clambered onto the back and wrapped her arms around Yang’s waist. This was another reason she didn’t go out with Yang on Bumblebee often, prolonged close physical contact made her both dysphoric and a bit jealous. Not enough to cause a breakdown or anything, just a slight nagging in the back of her mind that she’d rather not deal with. She knew it was weird and irrational, and not even that common among other trans girls she’d talked to online, but those facts just helped her “deal” with the feelings when they arose, not make them stop happening. Yang revved the again once again, making Ruby instinctively cling to her sister even more tightly, leaning forward to get as close as possible.

“Hang on!” Yang called back, and then they were off, riding out of the lights of the city and into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this yesterday for siblings day or whatever bc Yang is a good sister, but then I had a paper due at midnight and a project to work on so that didn't happen


	3. Gold

“We need to talk.”

Yang’s words echoed in Ruby’s mind as she took off the dress. It was unusual for Yang to sound so serious, so what could be the reason for it now? Was she not supportive of Ruby? Wouldn’t accept her as her sister? It seemed unlikely, just going off her behavior at the club, but it wasn’t impossible. Ruby watched her reflection while she finished removing the rest of her clothes, doing her best to avoid looking at her own waist and the constant reminder there. Maybe she could keep some girl’s clothes on when she went to talk to Yang in a few minutes? If she just kept her unstuffed bra and underwear on, she could just throw on a t-shirt and some sweatpants, Yang probably wouldn’t even notice. And that way she could keep some gender euphoria, no matter what Yang had to say. Deciding this was the best course of action, Ruby grabbed the white shirt and sweatpants she had been ‘sleeping’ in earlier from the bed and tiptoed out the door.

Moments later, she was standing outside the door to her sister’s room. Did she really want to do this?  _ ‘I mean, I  _ am _ already out to her, kinda. Maybe I could just pretend I passed out in my room before going to see her, that’s believable.’ _ she thought to herself.  _ ‘No, I can’t do that, I should just be honest with her…’ _ Having made up her mind, Ruby raised her hand and hesitantly knocked on the door in front of her. Moments later, the door swung open and Yang’s smiling face emerged.

“Hey Ru- oh” her face fell as she took in her younger sister’s appearance. “Come on in, but just letting you know, you looked a lot better in the other outfit.” Ruby followed her sister into the room, her heart soaring at the statement. But it also left her as confused as ever. What did Yang want to talk about then? Carefully sitting down on the edge of the bed, Ruby took in the rest of the room. She’d been in here before, but something felt…  _ different _ now. Maybe it was the fact this was the first time she was in here as a girl. And the fact Yang was also in the room. The last few times Ruby had been in Yang’s room had been a couple years ago, when she just thought she was a disgusting teenage boy into crossdressing and “borrowing” his sister’s clothes for reasons he didn’t totally understand. Oh gods maybe that’s what she wanted to talk about, she caught on. Even now, Ruby could see a pale yellow dress she’d worn a few times hanging in the closet. Her attention was drawn away as Yang walked in front of and then sat next to her. Almost instantly, Ruby’s heart started racing.

“So… what did you want to talk about?” She wasn’t really that curious, Yang would talk eventually, she just wanted to break the silence. 

“Sorry for sounding so heavy and all, it's just… I wanna make sure you’re doing okay. Tonight’s been a whirlwind for you, and I’d bet 20 Lien you weren’t totally ready to come out to me yet, am I right?” Yang looked down at Ruby with a slight smile on her face. Ruby could feel herself blushing as she gave a small nod and Yang resumed her speech. “I know keeping something like this to yourself is hard, especially whenever you get misgendered or deadnamed, and someone accidentally finding out only adds to the stress, so I just wanna see how you’re handling all this. Like, if you want me to just forget I saw you tonight and come out to me whenever you’re ready, that’s totally chill, it’s one hundred percent your call, and just know... I’ll always love and support you, no matter what you decide you want.” The blonde’s voice was quiet, quieter than they needed to be to avoid waking up their dad, but there was still an edge to it, indicating she really did mean what she was saying. If Ruby didn’t know better, she could’ve sworn there were tears beginning to form in Yang’s eyes, but it had been ages since she’d last seen her big sister cry. Ruby herself, on the other hand, was trying her best to hold back the tidal wave of emotions that was growing, but not doing a very good job of it. 

“Yang, I… I don’t know what to say. I mean, I’ve been wanting to tell you for like a month now, ever since school let out for the summer, but the timing never seemed  _ right _ , and then every time I thought maybe I might tell you anyways, there was always that voice in the back of my head like ‘What if? What if she’s not OK with it? What if she thinks you’re some kind of freak and tells all her friends on the team and then the whole school knows and Dad finds out from his students and…’ and it’s just been so annoying trying to figure out who’ll be supportive and who won’t be and just  _ ugh! _ ” The tears were freely flowing down her face now, and Yang leaned over to give her a quick hug before reaching the other way for the box of tissues she kept on her nightstand. When she had passed it to Ruby, the younger girl took a few seconds to dry her eyes and clean her face before continuing. “It just...it feels so good to finally be able to tell someone who actually knows me, in person instead of just some random anonymous people on an online forum. Like even just telling you, you’re only one person, but that’s one less person I need to hide so much of my life from, and like, just that alone is such a big load off my mind. Does that make any sense?”

Yang nodded and grabbed a tissue to lightly dab at her own eyes, which had become even more watery as Ruby talked.  _ ‘I knew it!’ _ Ruby thought to herself before she was brought into a tight hug by the bigger girl. “Hey, of course it makes sense. And I’d  _ never _ tell anyone without your permission first, it’s your life, your story, not mine. But to be perfectly honest, I don’t think you’re giving the other girls on the team the credit they deserve.” At this, Ruby broke away from the hug and cocked her head to the side, watching Yang with a confused stare.

“What do you mean?” Ruby’s mind started racing a mile a minute again, awash with ideas about what Yang could’ve been talking about.  _ ‘Is Yang trans too?? Do I have a brother instead of a sister??? She did say she knew how hard keeping everything secret is, have I just been that clueless to my own sibling-of-as-of-yet-indeterminate-gender? Is that why nothing tonight has surprised her? Couldn’t hurt to ask, I guess...’  _ “You- You’re no- You’re not trans too, are you?” Her voice was trembling with uncertainty, but hey, at the very least it was higher than normal and she wasn’t about to complain about that. There was a second as Yang paused to understand the question and perform some amazing mental gymnastics to see where Ruby was coming from before the older girl flopped backwards onto the bed, busting out in laughter.

“Quiet, you’re gonna wake dad up!” Ruby hissed, glancing between the door and her sister.

“Oh my gods, sorry, I just - whew - I did  _ not _ expect that question tonight. No, I’m not trans, I may be a bit of a tomboy, but I’m still a girl. What I  _ meant  _ is that there was a trans girl on the team this season, she got transferred from the boys’ team over winter break, and the whole team was super chill about it. Jasmine, our captain, even asked her out just before she graduated. Plus I  _ may _ have asked her about some things to try and better understand what I thought you might be going through.” Now it was Ruby’s turn to lay back on the bed, but this time in frustration rather than mirth.

“You knew!? Yang, you could’ve saved me SO much stress if you just asked me directly! Gah, how long? How long have you thought I might be trans?” She glared at her sister, who was still giggling from the turn their conversation had taken.

“Relax, only like a week or two. Whenever I saw your Animal Crossing. And I was going to ask you, eventually, after I had more evidence or whatever, it’s just that… tonight happened first.” Sitting up, Yang spent a minute scrutinizing Ruby before finally asking “Are you wearing a bra right now?” Ruby opened and closed her mouth several times in shock at the question before finally pouting and deciding on a “Maybe.” “Yeah, I can see it doesn’t fit. Lemme know if you ever wanna go shopping together, I can help you navigate the gauntlet that is women’s clothing.”

“Thanks, Yang, I really appreciate it.” Ruby remained on the bed as Yang got up and walked across the room, only looking up when Yang asked her “Want anything?” The blonde was bent over in front of her minifridge, a small bottle of beer in her outstretched hand.

“What, no, I’m not 18 yet, Yang. And you know that even when I am 18 I’m still not gonna drink, I saw what Uncle Qrow was like.” Ruby indignantly replied, also worried what she might say or do while drunk. Feeling another wave of tears start to come on, she buried her eyes in her elbow so Yang couldn’t see.

“You sure? I’ve got some non-alcoholic lemonade in here, and you’ve been crying a lot, you need to stay hydrated.”

“Alright, fine, I’ll have some of that then.” Without removing the arm from her face, she stuck her other hand out, expecting Yang to walk over and put the bottle in her hand. Instead, there was a soft  _ thump _ and sloshing sound as the bottle landed on the bed almost a foot to her right. Unscrewing the cap, she brought the glass bottle to her lips and took a sip. And another. And another. And another, until Ruby realized she was about to down the whole bottle in seconds with how thirsty she was. Apparently Yang was right, she was dehydrated. Sitting up, she tossed the cap in the trash can and just held the bottle in her hands. It was cold, which felt surprisingly good, she must’ve been overheating with all the stress she’d been through tonight. Taking another sip, she watched her sister clamber back onto the bed, leaning against the headboard this time instead of sitting next to Ruby. She watched as Yang opened her own bottle before taking a swig and pointing at the younger girl, purple eyes wide. 

“Mmh!” she exclaimed, “I never asked! What’re your name and pronouns? Well I guess I kinda already knew your name earlier. And I did kinda ask if that  _ was _ your name. But still! Pronouns!” It wasn’t unusual for Yang to be so enthusiastic or excited, but it also wasn’t really normal for her to be so this late, or even having a drink this late either. Ruby was hardly in the mood to analyze her sister’s behavior though, she was sleep-deprived as it was, and being up at this hour certainly wasn’t doing her mental state any favors.

“Ruby Rose, and she/her,” she explained, playing the words over in her mind. This was the first time she’d actually said it out loud, and it felt good. It felt  _ right _ , almost like she’d been playing a character, and everybody had always been talking to and addressing the character, never the actor behind it. The thought made her giddy. Someone knew Ruby, and didn’t hate her. Didn’t resent her for lying for so long like she’d feared. Yang loved and appreciated her for who she was. Speaking of the devil, Yang was (drunkenly?) grinning ear to ear and held the bottle in her hand aloft.

“Then I propose a toast; to Ruby Rose! Welcome home, sis.” Clinking their drinks together, the two girls smiled and raised their glasses. Ruby took the opportunity to finish her drink, while Yang still had like half the bottle to go. Swirling it in her hand, her expression sobered up and she watched her sister drink with serious eyes. She must’ve been waiting for Ruby to finish, because she spoke up as soon as the bottle was empty.

“So. You said you haven’t come out to anyone else, right? So obviously Dad doesn’t know, or Uncle Qrow, but… have you told Mom yet?” Ruby winced at the question. She’d been out to visit her mother’s headstone many times, she made sure to go a few times a year, but she’d never brought up her struggles with gender or anything. At first it was because Yang or Tai were always with her and she didn’t want them to know, but eventually she’d started going on her own and even then she’d never said anything. First there was the fear that it was just a weird phase, and talking about it would somehow make it more real, until eventually it was just habit to never mention gender or anything. She didn’t even start off her talks by introducing herself, no “Hey, it’s your son” or “Hey, it’s Ruby”, just always “Hey mom, it’s me again” or some variation thereof. She’d always told herself she’d do it after she came out to Yang and/or their dad, but she’d done that now and she still didn’t feel quite ready.

“N- No… not yet. I know she would love me and want me to be happy and live my life how I want to, but I’m just so nervous. She’s  _ Mom _ , she means so much to me, I want to be someone she’d be proud of, you know? And I’m just not sure I’m ready for that yet.” As she spoke, Ruby pulled her feet up and curled up at the foot of her sister’s bed. Yang set her bottle on the nightstand and clambered over to her sister, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and using the other hand to rub her back.

“Hey, hey, don’t worry about it, it’s ok, you don’t have to have everything figured out right now. These kinds things takes time, not everyone just realizes they might be gay or something one night and then tells the world the next day. Everybody goes through this at their own rate. But you don’t have to go through it alone. I will forever and always be by your side, and if you ever need a friend, someone to talk to, someone to lean on for moral support, I’ll be there, right behind you. Because I’m your big sister, and that’s what big sisters are for, right?” Somehow Yang was able to keep a smile the entire time she talked, and before long Ruby was softly crying again. The sheer amount of unbridled emotions running through her was intense, and already she’d cried more tonight than she did in most weeks. However, a thought hit her before she thought of a response.

“You’re right, I don’t need to know everything tonight. Soooooo…..” tapping the tips of her index fingers together, Ruby looked up at Yang with wide, silver eyes. “Why did you want to talk tonight? It’s already like 2am and I’m freaking tired. Couldn’t we have just talked about this in the morning? We wouldn’t even have to worry about waking Dad up then!” The older girl sheepishly smiled and got up, pointedly avoiding meeting her sister’s gaze. Ruby watched as Yang walked over to her dresser and dropped to the ground in front of it, sitting cross-legged as she fished through the bottom drawer. From her vantage point on the bed, Ruby could see several pairs of plain shorts, pants, and tank tops she recognized as her sister’s typical choice of pajama-wear being thrown about, until there was a commotion as Yang evidently found what she had been searching for and extracted it from its resting place. Carrying the multicolored bundle of fabric over to the bed, she kicked the drawer closed with her foot.

“Eh, I’ll worry about it later,” she muttered, an answer to Ruby’s questioning glance at the piles of clothes strewn about the nearby floor. “But this is why I wanted to talk tonight instead of in the morning. Figure it’s never too early for hand-me-downs, and I thought you might like to have them tonight.” Ruby unraveled the bundle as soon as it was dropped into her lap, pulling the two pieces apart and repeatedly looking from one to the other. In one hand she was holding a simple black tank top with a large red heart outlined in white in the center of the chest, while the other contained a pair of white pajama pants, decorated here and there with large polka dots, colored somewhere between pink and red. They were the softest piece of clothing she’d ever seen, and she couldn’t wait to actually put them on. They even matched her usual palette, for the most part. The pink was new, but not unwelcome. 

“Oh my gods. Thank you Yang. You… you have no idea how much this means to me.” Ruby could barely contain herself, tonight was just a rollercoaster of emotion from start to finish. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve been thinking of getting rid of those for a while now, and it feels hell of a lot better giving them to you than just hucking ‘em in the trash. Uncle Clover gave them to me for my first birthday after he and Qrow started dating, I guess he didn’t really know me all that well back then.” Yang explained as she crawled past Ruby and under the covers. “Now, I know I just got done gushing about how I’ll always be there when you need me and shit, but like you said, it’s like 2:30am, and some of the girls from the team are going to the gym in the morning, and I wanna join, so time for you to let me get my beauty sleep.” She made a shoo-ing motion with her hands, and Ruby took her cue to leave, but not before giving her sister a quick hug and grabbing her new pajamas from where she’d set them on the bed. She was halfway to the door when the room around her was plunged into darkness as Yang turned out the light. She was past the door and closing the bathroom door when a voice came out of the darkness.

“Hey, Rubes?” Yang’s voice was quiet, barely audible across the room.

“Yeah?”

“I think... I might be... bi?”

“No shit, Yang. You’re on the school’s rugby team, flirt with like every girl in our class, and wear so many flannels that your closet looks like a Mantle Trading Company store. It would surprise me more if you told me you were straight.”

“You don’t have to be so rude about it, meanie.”

“Oh, sorry, Miss I-Have-A-Picture-of-Pyrrha-Nikos-Above-My-Bed.”

“Listennnnn, she is an amazing athlete, and I aspire to have her level of skill some day.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. G’night Yang.”

“Nnnnhhhh, night Ruby. Love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imma be up front about this, I am both an only child and also not a very emotional person, so uhhhhhh writing this chapter and trying to make it sound good was hella rough. best part is that was only part of the reason this took so long :D gotta love finals during a global pandemi~i~i~ic


	4. This Will Be The Day

Sunlight was streaming into Ruby’s room when she eventually woke up, bathing her surroundings in a bright midday glow. More annoyingly, the sun was shining directly into her face. Groaning, she rolled over and brought the covers up to cover her face, already wishing she could go back to sleep. She’d been having the weirdest dream she’d had in a long time, but not in a bad way. Sure, on one hand she’d been using a giant scythe-gun to slaughter weird wolf-monster-things and watching from some weird third-person view, but on the other hand… she’d looked good. She’d looked like a _girl_ . Yeah she was a girl now, but her body was far from what she’d seen in her dream, what she _wanted_ , and to get that, she would need to start hormones. Which needed a doctor. And a therapist. And money. And to get all of those, she’d have to come out to her dad.

“Fuck” she cursed as she buried her head deeper. Was she really ready to finally do it? Was starting HRT ASAP worth the risk? Absolute worst case, he kicks her out and/or disowns her, she waits the 7ish months until she’s 18 and then starts the whole process on her own. Maybe she could sell pictures of her feet online to pay for everything. On the other hand, the Vale healthcare system was fast enough she’d be able to start in a couple months at most, start coming out to other people, probably even apply to colleges and graduate from Signal as a girl. As _Ruby_. She allowed herself a moment to bask in the possibility. Even just thinking about it filled Ruby with glee, and she closed her eyes as she imagined different scenarios, each more euphoric and brighter than the last. Decorating her grad cap, not hating her body in a suit under the gown, just being a girl in the eyes of whatever college she ended up attending and not having to mess around with annoying paperwork later, hell even just being sent ads for womens’ clubs and student orgs would be worth it. In that moment, Ruby decided she needed to come out, and soon. 

_Dad’ll definitely be supportive. Most likely. Probably. Maybe._ There it was. That little voice that resided in the back of her head, always doubting and second-guessing how people will react. In the past, it had told her that Yang would hate her, all her friends would abandon her, nobody would care about her anymore. But it had always been wrong. Yang still loved her (maybe even more now?), she still had all of her (few) friends, and every single one of them still cared about her and wanted her to be happy. At this point Ruby refused to let it win out of spite, and launched her internal debate (with a new argument this time!) Uncle Qrow was basically Taiyang’s brother, and Tai had done nothing but support him when he came out, plus apparently her uncle’s often-long-distance marriage was even more complicated in a way she and Yang weren’t allowed to know about, but still Tai loved his brother. But now there was Yang too! He’d been totally chill when she’d told him she was bi before school one day! There was like, no way he wouldn’t be at least somewhat supportive of Ruby too.

Having made up her mind, she stuck a hand out from the covers and fumbled around on the nightstand for her phone, knocking an empty pop can over in the process. When she finally found it, she yanked it from the charger and pulled it into her mound of blankets, the bright light almost blinding her in the darkness. There were several missed texts, but none from her family so she didn’t bother reading any of them. The clock read 13:37, telling Ruby that she was probably the last one up, once again. She swiped over to texts and began tapping out a message.

❤Ruby❤: _i think im gonna tell dad today_

The “other person is typing...” dots appeared almost immediately, so Ruby stuck around the conversation to wait for a response. Seconds later, though, they disappeared without any message coming through, and Ruby locked her phone, watching her reflection in the tiny dark screen. Her reverie was interrupted shortly thereafter, as her bathroom door was thrown open, the force rattling the windows. Casting the covers aside and bolting upright, she turned to find Yang standing in the now open doorway, wearing nothing but a towel.

“YANG WHAT THE _FUCK_ ” Ruby screamed, instinctively pulling the covers back over herself. She’d been more daring recently, wearing femme clothes to bed almost every day, but there had been some pretty harrowing close calls when Tai had come in to wake her up occasionally.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU THINK YOU’RE GONNA TELL DAD TODAY?” Yang fired back.

“I mean I want to come out to him today, like this afternoon or something. I don’t know, I haven’t thought this through! But why are you in my room?!” It’s true, she hadn’t thought about it much, especially since she’d had the idea literally less than five minutes ago.

“Because I figured that’s what you meant, and I wanna be there for my baby sister!” Ruby relaxed her grip on the blankets at Yang’s response. She was always surprised by her sister’s support, especially given her Tranxiety™. Yang continued on, seemingly not noticing Ruby’s reaction. “Besides, you’re gonna have to wait a little while, he left to go get groceries 15 minutes ago, so he won’t be back for like an hour at least.”

Ruby was both relieved and crestfallen at the same time. On the one hand, this idea was starting to stress her out and she’d appreciate more time to plan things out, but also it would have been nice to just rip the band-aid off and get it over with as soon as possible. “Ok but that doesn’t explain why you’re wearing just a towel! It’s like 2pm, why aren’t you wearing normal clothes?!” Yang just looked down at her choice of attire and shrugged.

“I was about to hop in the shower when I got your text, and I bet you really don’t want me barging in here buck-ass naked.” She cocked an eyebrow and Ruby scrunched up her face in disgust. She wasn’t a fan of Yang barging in here to begin with, naked would’ve been even worse. 

“No, no, you’re right. Now get out of my room, I need to get dressed, and unlike you, I have a sense of _decency_.” Ruby climbed out of bed and started pushing Yang back towards the bathroom door from where she’d strayed. Yang began protesting but heeded her sister’s direction anyways.

“Eh, whatever, nothing I haven’t seen already.”

“ _YANG_!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going, I’m going. Nice PJs by the way.” Yang shuffled back into the bathroom, poking her head back out for the last comment before fully retreating from the closing door. Ruby heard the lock click from the other side and looked down at her clothes. She was wearing the ones Yang had given her when she’d come out to her. Huh, she hadn’t even noticed. That had gone well, maybe it was a sign things would go well with Dad. Hopefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a lil bit of sibling banter before things get Serious™, feat. an exchange that i actually had w/ a girl before i started hrt (bet you can guess which one)


	5. Red Like Roses, Part II

To say Ruby was nervous would have been an understatement. She was terrified of coming out to Taiyang. The good things that could happen if she did were great, but it seemed like all the best ones were all countered by equally bad or worse things that could also happen. She could live as herself at home, or she could be kicked out and forced to live on the streets. Her diploma could say Ruby, or she could be expelled for some bullshit excuse to cover up transphobia by the administration. There was a rumor that had happened to a trans kid at Signal years ago, but that was a while ago, practically every high level person in the school had changed since then, so who knew what things were like now. Plus it was just a rumor.  _ But rumors have to come from somewhere, right? _

“Yang, did you ever hear about the trans kid who got kicked out of Signal a few years ago for like, using the “wrong” bathrooms and stuff?” Ruby paused her pacing to face her sister, who currently had her head dangling off the side of Ruby’s bed. The pair had finished having dinner downstairs with their father almost an hour ago, but they were still hiding out in Ruby’s room, where they’d fled to immediately after leaving the table. Ruby had originally planned on changing clothes and then immediately going back downstairs, but then she’d gotten cold feet and stalled for so long already.

“I don’t think so? Pretty sure the only expulsion I’ve ever heard of was this senior like 10 years ago who got fucking arrested for trying to mug a teacher or something on school grounds.” Yang answered, barely adjusting her head from its upside-down position to meet her sister’s gaze. “But if you’re asking if I think  _ you’ll _ be expelled, then definitely not. I’m like 900 percent sure Dad’s gonna love and support you, and 10 Lien says Signal isn’t gonna risk losing one of its’ best math teachers by expelling his daughter for some bigoted-ass reason. At the  _ very  _ least Qrow will quit.”

“They don’t care about Uncle Qrow, he’s a part-time gym teacher that’s like never there anyways,” Ruby sighed. “It’s just… I’m so scared. It feels like there are so many things that could go wrong, and I don’t even know what most of them are, much less how to fix them. Like what if Dad’s in a bad mood for some reason? Huh? What do I do then?” She started pacing back and forth again, face buried in her hands. She wasn’t someone who normally paced when she got nervous, she usually curled up into a ball, but  _ someone _ was sprawled out in her spot, and the skirt felt really comforting every time she took a step. She could feel tears beginning to well up but pushed them back down, not wanting to have to redo her makeup. She was momentarily startled by hands gripping her shoulders, but was relieved to find it was only Yang as she looked up.

“Hey, don’t think about that. ‘Best laid plans...’, right? You can’t account for every possible scenario, you’ve just gotta do what you can and hope for the best.” Yang was staring intently into her little sister’s eyes, hazy silvers met by fierce lilac. “Besides, that’s what I’m for. No matter what, you’ll always have me in your corner.”

“Thanks for the  _ rousing  _ support, Yang. Really makes me feel better that there’s an infinite number of parallel universes where this goes absolutely terribly,” Ruby deadpanned. To be honest, Yang’s advice actually did shift her opinion a bit. For every universe where Taiyang didn’t accept her, there were more where he did. And this could be one of those ‘more’. Yang just shrugged and walked back to the bed, flopping onto her back with her phone in hand. 

“Hey, can’t say I didn’t try. Maybe you’re just too pessimistic for my brilliant cheering-up,” Yang replied, throwing a smirk in Ruby’s direction. Ruby blew a quick raspberry in response before spinning on a heel to examine her reflection in the full length mirror that was hanging in her closet. She was wearing the same outfit she’d worn a few months ago when she’d accidentally come out to Yang, but with a few modifications. Yang had gotten her a bra that actually fit, a stylish grey belt was added as an accessory, and she’d replaced her mom’s tights with a pair of black thigh-high stockings. She’d forgone the makeup this time, just wanting to be herself tonight, not trying to pass like when she was going out in public. But maybe some would be nice? To show Dad she was serious and this is who she was? Though she hadn’t personally been told that in regards to coming out, the words ‘it’s just a phase’ were constantly rattling around in her head.

“I don’t know, maybe doing this tonight wasn’t the best idea.” Ruby murmured to the mirror, unable to tear her eyes away from her reflection. The more she looked, the more things she noticed were wrong. The tiniest stubble dotting her pale face, the too-broad shoulders, the loose fabric around her chest, even the slightest hint of a bump in the front of her skirt were all reasons to not go forward. For at least the past year she’d wanted the perfect conditions to tell Tai. Surely if she waited a bit longer they’d come around eventually. Right?

“‘Kay. Just lemme know when you’re ready and I’ll be there to support you,” Yang sighed as she rose from the bed, waving a hand in her sister’s direction.  _ Shit, is she mad I took an hour just to decide not to do it tonight?  _ Ruby watched Yang in the mirror as the older girl strolled across the room to the door, ready to head back out into the hallway.  _ Maybe I should, just so I don’t feel guilty asking for her time again. _ Ruby bit her lip as Yang turned the knob and started to pull the door open. Now or never.

“Fuck it, let’s just get this over with.” Ruby turned and stepped over to the doorway, where Yang was leaning against one side, arms crossed in front and a smirk on her face.

“Wow, all I said was take your time, didn’t even give you some ‘liquid courage’. Sure you’re ready for this?” Yang extended an arm to ruffle her sister’s hair, her expression suddenly shifting to one of concern. Ruby decided not to tell her that it wasn’t Yang’s words that changed her mind, but instead the guilt about taking her sister’s time to help herself. She pouted and started pushing the blonde out into the hallway.

“Yes, now shut up and let me get downstairs before I change my mind and spend the rest of my senior year deeper in the closet than this dress.” As requested, Yang moved out of the way and walked the short distance to the top of the stairs, flashing peace signs with both hands before starting down the steps. Within seconds, Ruby was alone on the second floor, acutely aware of her own breathing as she took slow steps towards the stairs. Her heart pounding in her ears, she took a deep breath and started down. She hadn’t even lifted her other foot from the second floor before she froze, new worries instantly appearing before her. Could Tai tell she was wearing different shoes by the sounds she made on the floorboards? What if she tripped and fell down the rest of the way and he came to help? She would probably die of embarrassment, never mind the problem of how awkward coming out would be at that point. _ No, screw that, you’ve been up and down these stairs thousands of times before, just need to do it one more time _ , she thought to herself, willing herself to keep descending. In a surprisingly short time she was at the bottom, both feet on the main floor of the house.

Standing in the living room, Ruby felt at that very moment, every eye in the room was focused on her, including the ones silently watching from picture frames. In reality, only Yang was paying the slightest bit of attention to her. The blonde was laying on her stomach with her head hanging over the side closest to Ruby, while their dad, one Taiyang Xiao Long, was sitting in the lone armchair, its, and by extension his, back to her. The only evidence of Zwei the corgi’s existence in the room was the slightest snoring coming from the opposite end of the couch. Tai must have noticed the silence following her coming down the stairs, because he turned around, leaning to the side to see around his chair. At the sight of his face, Ruby was suddenly frozen in place like she’d been caught in the cookie jar. She watched his face cloud over in confusion as he looked her over, her brain trying to think of something, anything, to say to break the silence, hopefully before Tai could say anything. 

“Oh, hey Ru-” Evidently, hope was not enough.

“Dad, I love you, but  _ please _ do not finish that name. I- I’ve got something to tell you,” Ruby interrupted, suddenly finding the confidence she’d been missing since waking up this morning. She watched as he muted the TV, angling himself to give her his full attention. “I’m trans. I’m a girl. My name is Ruby and my pronouns are she/her. I…” Now that she’d actually gotten out the main point of what she wanted to say, she was struggling to think. Yang was right, she definitely should have planned this out beforehand, at least a little bit. “I know this might might be surprising for you, and you probably don’t totally understand what I’ve been going through, but I’m not asking you to understand, I just want you to know and accept that this is who I am, and I hope you still love me, just as a daughter now instead of a son?” The last part came out more like a question than she wanted, but at least she didn’t end up rambling as she was prone to do. And she wasn’t crying! That was something! She watched with bated breath as Taiyang stood up and walked towards her, until they were standing just a couple feet apart.

“Hey, of course I still love you, I’m your father! What, you expect me to disown you or something just because you’re not exactly who I thought you were? Sorry kid, but that’s kinda dumb,” he explained. “I’m a teacher, it’s like, literally my job to be supportive of kids.”

“Pfffffffttt” Yang made her first noise of the night, snorting at Tai’s statement. “Teachers, supportive? Tell that to Coach Selene.” All she got in response was a questioning look from Ruby and a glare from their father.

“Yang, I’m trying to have a heartfelt conversation with your sister here. Now is not the time to talk about the repercussions of whatever delinquency you may have gotten yourself into now.” Ruby couldn’t believe how calm he was about the situation. She’d spent months,  _ years _ even, analysing and dissecting her feelings about both herself and her gender, agonising over whether to tell someone, anyone, or even how to do that without sounding crazy, and here was her dad, almost offended she would think he would be anything other than supportive! Her inner turmoil and shock continued in silence as Tai ruffled her hair and returned to his seat. “Besides, it’s not as surprising as you think. Do you remember when you were just a toddler, your mother used to call you Ruby?”

“Vaguely?” Ruby shuffled her way over to the couch, pushing Yang’s legs to the side and sitting in the now empty spot. “I don’t remember any specific instances or anything, but I remember it happened, and it’s part of why I chose it.”

“Yeah, it was what we were planning to call you if you were a girl, and when you were 2 I think, she was talking to a friend with you in the room and mentioned you were almost named Ruby, and you just started bawling. Turned out you really liked the name, and eventually you only responded to it over the other one. There was even a point when Summer tried to drop you and your sister off at daycare and you threw probably the biggest tantrum I’ve ever seen out of you. Everyone thought it was just the normal little kid having to be away from your mom, but eventually you said it was because they were splitting you kids up into boys and girls, and you didn’t want to be with the boys, you wished you could be one of the girls. I thought you just wanted to spend more time with Yang, but your mom thought it might be something more. So every time you showed interest in something ‘girly’ or whatever, Summer supported and helped you, and would then turn around to me and use it as evidence for ‘Hey I think our kid might want to be a girl, maybe we should look into that’. So she did some research, learned about transgender people, and even wanted to just ask you point-blank ‘Are you transgender?’. I told her that was ridiculous, you were three and could barely get out more than two-syllable words, there was no way you knew what it meant, much less articulate it. So she held off, waited until you were older, and gave you time to sorta figure yourself out. And then a couple months later, she disappeared.”

“You’re kidding.” Ruby couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Mom  _ knew _ ? Mom knew I might be trans, when I was just a little kid??”

“I mean she didn’t know for certain, she just thought maybe, and it’s not like she was an expert on the subject with firsthand experience or anything, it was all stuff she found in libraries or online. I was kinda skeptical when she first told me, because you were so young, like we can hold off worrying about our child’s future for at least a little while, a couple years at least.”

“YOU KNEW TOO!?” Ruby was furious now. All that time, all the negative feelings she’d had about herself, the unsafe and sketchy things she’d done (or at least actively considered) were coming back to haunt her, fuel for the rage burning inside her. “All these years! All these years I’ve been so insecure, thought I was some disgusting pervert for having these thoughts, these feelings that I couldn’t talk about to  _ anyone _ , and you  _ knew _ I might be feeling this way??? I used to hate myself because what kind of sexist asshole wishes they were a girl even when they know about all the shit women have to put up with in the world?! I cried myself to sleep every day for a week when I started getting facial hair because I was already unhappy with my body and that meant things were getting worse!” She could feel her eyes getting misty, but she didn’t care. She had to get through this. “I’ve known I wasn’t at least a normal boy for so many years now, and you… you just let me feel that way?! I had to learn about myself through- through slurs, and porn, and- and  _ fetish websites _ when I could’ve just heard things in a normal, safe environment from my own father!” Tears were freely flowing when she finished speaking, and Ruby realized at some point she’d stood up, and everyone was watching her with concerned looks. Even Zwei was facing her, presumably woken up by her shouting. She practically fell back down into her seat, suddenly drained of all the energy that had kept her going through this. Tai was the first to break the silence that followed.

“Ruby… what are you talking about?” His voice was cautious, and Ruby could tell he was trying not to set her off again. It didn’t really matter, though, she didn’t have anything left to be set off about. She took a deep breath before responding, trying not to let the emotion break through and failing miserably.

“I’m saying… I’m saying that in the past 12 years, did it ever, just once, occur to you that maybe you should have actually just  _ talked _ to me about this? That if I really was trans, I wouldn’t automatically know about things and having someone there to give me even a rudimentary explanation could’ve been  _ so  _ helpful?” She couldn’t remove her eyes from the spot of the floor where they’d fixed themselves, even as she felt Yang lean against her. It felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, but in doing so, a hole had appeared in her mind. It wasn’t entirely her dad’s fault, she’d just never chosen to bring it up to him. What did it say about her that she’d turned to total strangers on the internet over her own flesh and blood father? So caught up in this internal dialogue, she barely noticed Tai answer her question.

“It did occur to me, yeah, a couple times. But I had no idea how to bring it up, and I thought maybe if I just tried to be open enough and say you guys could come to me with anything enough times, you might ask me about it at some point. You never did, so I assumed things were fine.” His words were of little comfort to Ruby, though. ‘ _ Cool. I was  _ too good _ at hiding my problems. Just fucking great,’ _ she thought to herself, not even paying attention as he continued on. It certainly seemed to her that there was something Not Totally Right with her brain. Depression, anxiety, who knows! Wait, wasn’t this exactly the reason she wanted to come out to him today? To eventually get therapy or something?

“Gods, how did I forget that?” She didn’t pause to explain, just interrupted Tai and barrelled on through. “Dad, I think I need to see someone. Like, a therapist, or a psychiatrist, or just someone who can actually tell me what’s going on with my brain. I mean that’s like the big reason I wanted to come out to you, so you can like, help me see a therapist and talk to a doctor so I can start hormones, but now I think like maybe I actually need to be on medication or something for like depression, anxiety, whatever the hell I might have. I think it could be really good for me to talk to someone about things that have happened, and unhealthy coping mechanisms I’ve definitely picked up. Is- is that OK?” Ruby wasn’t totally sure why she was asking permission, he’ll definitely help with that.  _ Won’t he? _ She was dimly aware of Yang’s supportive hand on her shoulder, and the corgi nuzzling against her leg, instead focusing on her dad, watching and waiting for his reaction. If he said yes, that would be it; the ball would be rolling, she could start HRT ASAP, apply to colleges and graduate from Signal as herself. If he didn’t, well, Ruby wasn’t sure what would happen then.

“Well, yeah, of course it’s OK. Whatever you think is best. Anything you need or want me to do, just let me know. You’re my daughter, I want you to be happy.” He seemed so calm, Ruby would’ve been floored if she still had any energy left. This whole ordeal had taken so much out of her, and in ways she hadn’t even expected. But things were going well! Minus her outburst, of course. 

“Thanks, Dad. It really means a lot.”

“Anytime. Is there a particular therapist or counselor you’re thinking of seeing?” Ruby knew he meant well, but honestly more thought about the topic just gave her a headache. Her mind had been racing for the past hour at least, and had rubber-banded between so many emotions she didn’t even know what she was feeling strongest, other than tired.

“No, but can we talk about this tomorrow or something? I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I’ve been through a lot in the past few minutes and I’d rather not give it any more thought,” she mumbled, pushing back against Yang until she was the one leaning against her sister’s “upright” form. “It just feels good to not have to hide so many things from you anymore.” This got Tai’s attention.

“Oh? Like what?” He asked, leaning forward in his chair. The TV remote which had been resting on the arm, clattered to the ground, the TV totally forgotten in the discussion. One of the AA batteries skittered across the floor and Ruby instantly tightened her grip on Zwei, preventing him from going after it. There was a brief flash in her mind of  _ ‘Heh. AA, just like me.’ _ before Zwei started licking her face. It’s hard to not smile receiving loving attention from a dog.

“Oh man, if only y-  _ OW _ ” Yang began, cut off by an elbow to the ribs before she could say anything incriminating.

“Shut up, Yang, they’re  _ my _ stories,” Ruby hissed. If anything, Tai was now even more intrigued, so Ruby started talking about the numerous times she’d almost accidentally outed herself for the punchline of some dumb joke, or the handful of times Tai almost walked in on her dressed femme or something. She mentioned the weekends Yang took her to the mall to buy clothes, and how they smuggled them through the bathroom window so Tai didn’t see the bags. Yang brought up the apparently many times she almost called her Ruby in public, including once when she unthinkingly said the words “my sister” in the girls’ locker room after practice and nobody commented on it. Tai even commented that there were a couple times he swore he’d heard Ruby’s friends actually call her Ruby, but always thought he was just imagining things. They all sat and swapped stories like that for almost an hour, each one lifting Ruby’s heart bit by bit. Eventually she’d almost forgotten her earlier anger, content to just sit there and be loved and accepted by her family.

“Oh Ruby, remember the other week when that one salesgirl just did not believe your coverup about shopping for me? And also thought we were dating?” Yang asked around Zwei trying to lick her face.

“Gods, yes I wanted to die. She couldn’t take a hint! Like yeah if someone paid any attention to us at all it would probably be obvious, like look at either of our freaking chests and what part of the store we’re in, we’re obviously buying for me, but still! She didn’t need to basically broadcast it out loud for everyone else!” Ruby wished she didn’t remember that encounter, the embarrassment was almost too much for her to bear. “And the look on our face when we said we were sisters! I don’t know if she was more excited that it meant you were probably single, or sad that we didn’t have as much money as she thought we did. Still can’t believe you got a date out of taking me to the mall.”

“More than  _ a _ date, little sister. I’m getting dinner with her next weekend.” Yang winked at no one in particular, while Ruby (and presumably their dad as well) rolled their eyes. There were a couple beats of silence until Yang let out a big yawn and stood up to stretch, but not before carefully picking up Zwei and setting him on Ruby’s eagerly waiting lap. “Well, as fun as this daddy-daughter bonding has been, I’m frickin tired so I’m gonna head up to bed. Night folks.” With a farewell wave, she trudged up the stairs and out of sight. Tai was the first to speak.

“So how long have you been out to her?” He asked calmly. Ruby was unsure how to respond. Usually honesty was the best policy, but when she’d come out to Yang, they were both out of the house when they weren’t supposed to be, and she had been on her way to meet up with a stranger at a club. Who knows what kind of trouble she could get one or both of them by being  _ too _ honest. Probably best to just tell the truth but make it vague.

“Like four or five months? I don’t know, I think it was a few weeks into summer break,” she began. “She accidentally saw me wearing pretty much this exact outfit, and combined with some other things she’s seen me, just kinda...guessed? Turns out I’m not exactly as subtle as I thought…” She trailed off, watching Zwei’s wagging tail as she absentmindedly scratched his belly. He was nice and soft. Maybe she could smuggle him upstairs as a stress reliever after tonight’s emotional hell.

“I see. I think I’m gonna head upstairs too, it’s getting pretty late for these old bones, and maybe we should have some celebratory pancakes in the morning?” Ruby snickered at the suggestion. Pancakes for breakfast was already a Sunday morning tradition in their house, there was hardly a need for another reason. Taiyang turned off the TV and Ruby mimicked him as he stood up, thinking maybe it was time for her to at least go upstairs too. “Can I give my daughter a hug? Seems like she’s been through a lot tonight.” he asked, spreading his arms wide. Ruby accepted the offer and wrapped her father in a tight hug, bringing her head close to his.

“Thanks, dad,” she whispered. Her dad leaned back and watched as she got ready for what was hopefully the last emotional talk of the night. “I’m sorry I got so angry at you tonight, I… it’s just that I did some pretty stupid and kinda dangerous stuff before I really knew about myself. Finding out that those things that I already regret doing could’ve been avoided was...not great.” Gods she did not want to start crying again. 

“Ah, don’t worry about it, I’ve been yelled at more for less, and that’s not even including your sister,” he replied, fully breaking away from the hug but leaving a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “I can’t imagine any of this has been easy, but I’m proud of you, sweetie. And I know Summer would be too.” He ruffled her hair again and started walking up the stairs, pausing only at the sound of Ruby’s voice.

“Oh, dad, one more thing!”

“Let me guess, you’re gay,” he answered totally deadpan, still facing up the stairs and away from Ruby. She chuckled sheepishly at the accurate guess.

“Yep, just making sure we’re on the same page! Night, dad!” Even though she knew he couldn’t see her, she still waved as he ascended, flashing her a thumbs up as he went. Seconds later Ruby was alone in the living room. Excluding Zwei. She flopped down on the couch and grabbed a game controller from the low coffee table.

“So Zwei, whaddaya wanna do, boy? What game should we play? The night is young, and- ah fuck I haven’t opened Oversight all week, I gotta catch up on my lootboxes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was supposed to be like 3 pages shorter and way more lighthearted but shit happens sometimes, yknow? and u end up projecting ur insecurities and trauma onto fictional characters like a normal person
> 
> i want time to work things out so things r gonna be like this, batch uploads bc thats how i work


	6. Brand New Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Think this change is here to stay  
> It's feelin' like a brand new day"
> 
> Where Ruby realizes she forgot to let a pretty important figure in her life know she's trans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhhh I wrote this chapter in like a week after the Volume 7 soundtrack was released but wanted to finish the arc before posting oops lmao

_‘Ow'_

  
Ruby dropped her hand from her chest and picked her phone up from the bathroom counter. She opened the camera and snapped a quick picture, doing her best to match the pose and angle she’d gotten yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before _that_ , and almost every single day since she’d started hormones almost exactly six months ago. Comparing today’s shot with yesterday’s showed practically no change in her actual body, the only differences being even worse bedhead this morning, and bright rays of sun coming through the open window behind her. Were her nipples slightly bigger than yesterday? Probably not, or at least not noticeably. She could never see day-to-day changes, only over time, so one thing that was practically guaranteed to make her feel better was looking at today’s picture next to one she’d taken the day before she got her first estrogen prescription. Her face was softer and smoother now, there was a bit more fat around her hips, and that didn’t even include the changes her torso and chest had gone through. Speaking of which…

“Ow” Without even realizing it, the hand that wasn’t holding her phone had drifted back towards her body and was playing with the soft flesh around her left nipple that Yang affectionately referred to as “not even a bee-sting, are you sure you didn’t just get bitten by a bug or something?” Messing with them was always a balancing act, though. There was so much euphoria that came from fiddling with them, but on the other hand, they were also incredibly sensitive and it didn’t take a lot of pressure to become painful. Worth it, though. Backing out of her ‘Timeline’ photo album, she locked her phone and meandered back into her room, tossing her pajama top onto the bed, shortly followed by the accompanying pants. Wriggling into her favorite pair of jeans, she grabbed a loose red and black off-the-shoulder shirt and opened her blinds, letting light flood her bedroom. The sun was high in the deep blue sky, not a cloud in sight. In the distance she could see the tops of trees rustling in the breeze, leaves shimmering with each gust of wind. It was a perfect day, and Ruby decided maybe she should take her Mintendo Lever and play games _outside_ for once, instead of staying shut in the house. This train of thought was quickly obliterated, though, as what next caught Ruby’s attention was the strange car sitting in the driveway, directly in front of the garage.

A sleek, dark silver coupe with a fancy Atlesian logo on the grill, the vehicle was most certainly not something Ruby expected to see outside her house, given that her dad drove a pale blue minivan and Yang had her neon yellow bike. She wondered who it could belong to and pressed her nose to the glass, only to see there was no one actually in it. Stepping back from the window, she grabbed her phone from the dresser and thought of possible owners of the car. _Maybe one of Yang’s friends from school? No, there would’ve been so much buzz if someone showed up in_ that _one day_ , she mused as she opened her door and started down the stairs. The only people that came to mind with connections to Atlas were Uncle Qrow and his partner Clover, but she would’ve known if one or both of them were coming to town, right? Especially since she hadn’t seen either of them in almost a year. As she reached the living room, she spotted Zwei sprawled out across the rug, and bounded over to him, giving him plenty of belly rubs and watching his tail wag back and forth with vigor. After a couple minutes she stood up and finished making her way to the front door, opening it to the cool, April air.  
Standing on the porch, she could just barely hear a pair of voices emanating from the garage. One of them was clearly Yang’s, but the other one was deeper and more masculine, but Ruby couldn’t quite place it. As she got closer, she could start to decipher bits and pieces of conversation.

“So, how’s my favorite niece doing?”

“Whoa, Qrow, I thought family wasn’t supposed to play favorites?” Ruby could just imagine the smirk on Yang’s face as she said that, blushing a bit at the fact Yang was so proud of her. At the same time, she was _very_ surprised to find out Qrow was in town, since this was the first she was hearing of it. She racked her brain, trying to remember whether or not she’d come out to him or not yet. Normally she preferred face-to-face conversation, but it had been months since she’d seen him, and while she was out at school, he’d been on “sabbatical” this year and hadn’t been around at all. Opening the personnel door into the garage, Qrow himself was indeed standing there talking to Yang, with his back to Ruby. Yang on the other hand, was leaning forward and resting her elbows on Bumblebee, grease-stained rag and gloves hanging off one shoulder, and watched as Ruby entered and observed the conversation in silence.

“Huh? But you’re my onl... Shit, did Tai have another one?” Ruby couldn’t see his face, but his tone was full of confusion, followed by what almost seemed like exasperation? But at least it answered her question; he definitely did not know Ruby was trans. Oh well, guess it’s time for a crash course she thought as she shrugged and made her presence known, clearing her throat and walking up to stand next to her uncle. “Hey Uncle Qrow!” she chirped, leaning up to rest an elbow on his shoulder.

“Hey there, kiddo,” he replied, only casting a sideways glance in her direction, to Ruby’s slight disappointment. But as she continued watching, something must’ve clicked and Qrow did a double take, realization dawning on his face as he looked Ruby up and down, hesitating a moment more at the bra strap peeking out on one of her shoulders. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Yang, who had resumed working on her bike. “Yang here was just telling me there’s a new girl in the Xiao Long-Rose household, and I was afraid your father knocked some poor woman up again, but now I’m gonna guess that she was actually talking about _you_.” Ruby chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of her head.

“Yeahhhh, about that… Long story short, hi I’m trans, I’m a girl, my name is Ruby, and my pronouns are she and her.” It felt kinda strange to rattle off all of this information since it had been a while since she’d had to come out to someone who knew her deadname, but that wasn’t to say it didn’t feel good. There was still that joy that now other people could recognize her for who she was, there was just also the slightest bit of anxiety over how said other people would react. Plus this time had the added bonus of how Qrow would react to finding out he was almost 6 months behind the times with this. “Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but coming out to someone over text just feels so much worse than face-to-face, and I haven’t seen you in like forever,” she explained. Hopefully that could lessen the blow, and maybe he’d understand her trepidation. Thankfully Qrow just scoffed and waved his hand.

“Ah, don’t sweat it, like you said, I just haven’t been around recently. Everybody comes out at their own pace, and sometimes the circumstances just don’t line up.” He shrugged and fell silent, but Ruby got the feeling there was something else on his mind that he wanted to say, as he watched her with a scrutinizing smile. She was about to ask him what was up when he cocked his head and gave her a slight smile.

“You look just like Summer when she was your age, yknow that?”

Any thoughts Ruby had in her brain at that point instantly stopped in their tracks and spontaneously combusted. Did she really look like Mom? It wasn’t unbelievable, she was her mother’s daughter, after all. But she hadn’t even been on hormones for 6 months, that wasn’t enough to counteract literal _years_ of dysphoria, no matter how “feminine” her body might have been beforehand. But this single comment made her so happy and lightheaded, for a second she thought might pass out. She briefly wondered if cis girls got this happy about being compared to their mothers, but frankly, she didn’t really care. As she slowly zoned back into her surroundings, she caught exchanges between her sister and uncle.

“Hey, how come you never say I look like _my_ mom?”

“Because my sister is basically the gothest person to ever exist, and sometimes your hair is so bright-freaking-yellow that it literally hurts to look at.”

“Oh so basically Ruby with longer hair, right Rubes? Ruby? Hey! Ruby! Nice going Qrow, you broke Ruby.”

“Shut up, Yang, he didn’t break me,” Ruby interjected, amused by the mock relief flooding over Yang’s face. “But speaking of, what’re you doing with Bumblebee? I wasn’t aware she was broken, or at least needed any work done.” Normally Ruby wouldn’t question anything her sister did with the bike, but mysterious mechanical work the same day as a surprise visit from Qrow? Something didn’t feel quite right.

“Ah, nothing serious, just laying the groundwork for some pizzazz I’m gonna add for next Saturday,” Yang explained as she dropped the wrench she was holding in the nearby toolbox and wiped her hands on the rag sitting next to it. Ruby felt like she was supposed to know what was happening, because the day rang a bell, but whatever it was couldn’t have been that important, since she forgot it. Or maybe it was her depression acting up again. Probably just not important though. Thankfully, Yang saw both hers and Qrow’s confusion. “Prom,” she elaborated. “The other seniors on the rugby team and I are doing something fun for it, and a certain someone doesn’t wanna go, so I only need to worry about driving myself.” Ruby rolled her eyes at the pointed glare Yang sent her way during the last remark.

“Well excuuuuuuuuuuuse me for wanting to stay home and do things I enjoy instead of wasting my Saturday night at school surrounded by people I barely tolerate, at my first dance since coming out, where everyone is gonna be staring at me. It just doesn’t sound fun,” Ruby countered. In truth, she’d been thinking about prom a lot lately. Part of her wanted to go, but the other parts of her kept finding reasons not to. At first she’d thought it would be fun to finally go to a school dance as Ruby, but then she realized that at this point in her transition, everyone would be staring at the “boy in the dress”. The simple solution would be to just wear a suit instead of a dress, girls in suits were hot after all, but it certainly wouldn’t be worth the dysphoria. She wasn’t even that big on dancing, it just seemed like a way to end her senior year with a bang, make a statement of some kind. But there was always the internal debate of whether or not things were worth it, and in the end, she’d decided they weren’t. Yang, on the other hand, did not see things that way.

“C’moooooo-o-o-o-on, it’ll be fun!” Yang whined, hopping up to sit on the workbench behind her. “Nobody’s gonna be staring at you, and if they are, they’ll have to answer to me first.” She punctuated the point by smacking the palm of one hand with the other balled up into a fist, eliciting a sigh from Qrow, and another roll of the eyes from her sister. Everyone at Signal was aware of just how strong Yang was, thanks to her arm-wrestling the quarterback on the first day of her junior year (and winning), so if that threat was on the table, people were more than likely to leave Ruby alone. Yang was evidently aware that this wasn’t enough to convince her sister, and kept up the reasoning. “What’ll it take to get you to go?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at Ruby’s unmoved expression.

“Really, Yang? Bribery?” Qrow asked. “She doesn’t wanna go, just let her stay home and chill.” Ruby appreciated him trying to make a case for her, but she held up a hand to stop him.

“No, no, it’s alright. I wanna hear her out,” she explained, returning Yang’s narrowed gaze with her own. “What’s your offer?” she asked as Qrow let out an exasperated sigh behind her. Yang paused to consider her options, debating what she could give her little sister without costing her too much time or money.

“How about I do your chores for a week?” the blonde offered. Ruby didn’t even hesitate with her counteroffer.

“Do my chores until we graduate,” she stated, watching the shock wash over Yang’s face.

“Until we graduate?! That’s like two months from now, this is highway robbery!” For a second, Yang’s face got that familiar angry red tint and Ruby was afraid that for the first time in a long time she’d be on the receiving end of Yang’s wrath, but the older girl calmed herself and resumed in a calm, measured tone. “How on Remnant does your logic work where one night demands that much compensation?”

“Simple. Prom starts at what, six pm? And runs until at least midnight, excluding travel time and any afterparties you might try to drag me to. So that’s six hours right there _at least_ I could be staying at home and/or doing whatever the hell I want. Add in getting ready beforehand and that’s another hour and a half, two hours, so a conservative estimate puts us at almost 8 hours you’d be taking from me. Since my chores don’t usually take me that long, I figure one week per taken hour.” She watched with a smug grin as Yang did the mental math before throwing in the last little kicker to prevent Yang’s coming statement about how the numbers didn’t quite add up. “Plus I don’t have a dress yet, so consider the last couple weeks as paying me to go out and buy one.”

“Okay, okay, I see where you’re coming from. However, that’s still a fucking long-ass time. Consider: chores for ten days.” Ruby smiled. Negotiations were happening. This was good, she could get a lot of things from Yang.

“How about a flat two months then?”

“Two weeks?”

“8.”

“Two weeks and a date with a member of the rugby team.” This elicited a snort from Qrow in the peanut gallery, who Ruby didn’t even realize was still watching. She half expected him to have left after the prom bickering started, but apparently he was leaning against the hood of Taiyang's van and watching the back-and-forth.

“And here I thought bribing your sister was low. Do your teammates know you’re literally pimping them out to avoid doing chores?” He asked, a smirk on his face, but his tone more curious than anything. But as she gave it more thought, Ruby realized how weird the situation did seem. Yang was pretty sex-positive, and from what she’d seen, the rest of the team was too, but Ruby wasn’t sure how they’d feel about being used as bargaining chips to get her to go. Yang dismissed their growing concerns with a wave of her hand.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll make sure everyone involved is fully aware of the situation,” the blonde explained as she fixed her lavender gaze on Ruby. “Especially since Ruby doesn’t get to pick who she’ll end up on a date with. That is, if she accepts. So; we got a deal?”

“Gods no! I’m not gonna participate in random prostitution!” Ruby emphatically shook her head. “Month and a half. Final offer.” She was willing to go lower, but she wasn’t about to let Yang know that. Truth be told, she would’ve been fine with just two weeks or a little more, but she wanted to know how far she could go. With finals not too far off, every extra second counts. Yang seemed to consider the proposition for a minute before responding.

“Ok how about a month, and I’ll buy you a box of cookies,” Yang offered, phone in one hand, presumably to check the calendar. Ruby knew this was the best she would get by a long shot, and there wasn’t even a question of whether the deal was fair, as it was obvious she was getting way more than she was giving in this trade. Not even a second had passed before Ruby felt herself saying “Deal” and leaning over to shake her sister’s outstretched hand. Once the transaction was complete, Yang clapped her hands together.

“Great! Gemma’ll be here to pick you up at noon next Saturday to go pick out a dress and get you ready beforehand,” she explained. Ruby didn’t even have a chance to protest that noon was way too early for a Saturday before her sister moved on to the next topic. “So, what brings you to town for the first time in however long with no warning?” She addressed Qrow, and Ruby was silently grateful that she wasn’t the only one who didn’t realize he was coming.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me!” Qrow exclaimed, standing up and jogging over to the car. “I meant to do this earlier, but then Ruby came out, and you guys were arguing about prom and stuff, and I just forgot.” As he talked, he opened the passenger door and retrieved a pair of items from the seat: a small rectangular package wrapped in dark grey paper, and a large white envelope. “Special delivery from Beacon University, addressed to one Yang Xiao Long,” he announced, handing the envelope to Yang, who stared at it in openmouthed shock. Ruby’d received enough college letters to know big envelopes almost always meant acceptance, and judging by her sister’s face as she tore into the envelope and read the first few lines, this wasn’t an exception.

“Anything for me?” Ruby asked, trying not to get her hopes up too much. It wouldn’t surprise her if Yang got into Beacon and she didn’t, the two of them certainly kept very different schedules. Yang was smart, athletic, talented, a hard worker. Ruby….stayed up too late playing too many video games, had barely passed most of her classes thanks to some undiagnosed mental illnesses, and participated in exactly zero extra-curricular activities. Plus there was the whole transgender thing. Some people weren’t exactly happy about her very existence, and unfortunately, many of them had powerful positions _*cough* Jacques Schnee *cough*_. Confirming her worst suspicions, she watched as Qrow shook his head and her hopes were instantly suffocated.

“Nothing from Beacon, kiddo, Ruby or otherwise. Sorry,” Qrow answered, Yang’s repeated “I got in, I got in” muted in the background. “Although…” he added, and Ruby felt a spark inside of her light up. He held the package out and Ruby took it greedily. Turning it over in her hands, it felt remarkably familiar: some video game, but which one? “I felt kinda bad bringing something for your sister and not you, so I picked it up on my way out of Atlas for ya.” Tearing off the paper, Ruby could only stare at the large dragon emblazoned on the cover, spreading its wings over a small hunting party armed with large swords.

“Oh my gods,” she gasped. “The new Frostborne DLC for Beast Huntress World! And it’s even the Atlesian version, where they kept the weird incoherent voice lines for the NPCs!”

“So do I know my niece or what?” Qrow asked, throwing his hands out to the sides to show off his victorious act. “Anyway, I’m gonna go surprise your dad and see what he’s got for lunch. See you girls later.” With that, he turned and waltzed out the open garage door in the direction of the house, leaving the sisters to gawk at what he’d brought for them. Ruby was busy reading the system requirements on the back of her new game when there was a tap on her shoulder, and she turned to find Yang standing next to her, holding a small envelope addressed to a “ _Ms. Rose_ ” in front of her face.

“Found this in the big mess of shit they sent me with the acceptance letter. Guess they did send you something after all. Wonder why Qrow didn’t know about it,” Yang explained, waving the letter in front of her face. Ruby snatched it from her grasp and tore it open, only to find a single, small, piece of paper, with neat cursive handwriting. It read

> _Dear Miss Ruby Rose,_   
>  _I am writing this letter to offer my sincerest apologies for sending your Uncle Qrow to deliver your sister’s letter of admission to Beacon University, but not outright sending anything regarding your application status. Forgive my omission, but I did not wish to accidentally mention your situation to someone who might not already be aware, such as your father or uncle. As such, I saw fit to include this notice within your sister’s letter so that she may deliver it to you, and let you know that your own letter and information packet were released alongside other applicants’ and will arrive shortly. Congratulations on your admission to this fine school!_   
>  _Headmaster, Beacon University_   
>  _Ozpin Pine_

“AYOOOO-O-O-O, let’s go, we’re going to Beacon!” Ruby had barely finished reading when Yang practically started yelling in her ear. Evidently she’d been reading the letter over Ruby’s shoulder. She always knew she would go to Beacon if she got in, but she hadn’t known about Yang’s decision.

“Yeah, I guess.” The past few minutes had been such a rollercoaster for her. First having to come out to Qrow, then facing the question of what prom was worth to her, being happy for Yang getting into Beacon without trying to be too jealous, getting the top game on her Smoke wishlist for absolutely free, then finding out she actually got into the school she had always wanted to attend. And to think she’d been asleep only a little over an hour ago. Now she felt exhausted and emotionally drained enough to go right back to bed. Yang had other plans, though.

“Hey, wanna go get some food to celebrate?” Yang asked as she fished her keys out of her pocket (how come her pants had those and Ruby’s didn’t?) and gestured over to the recently spruced up motorbike. “It’s a beautiful day, I’ll drive.” she offered.

“Nah, maybe another time,” Ruby said as she shook her head and held up the new game. “Gotta get as much playtime on this bad boy as possible, especially since I just agreed to give up basically the entire day next weekend.” Yang rolled her eyes at the reasoning and walked over to the wall to grab her helmet and began buckling it on.

“Whatever, nerd. See ya later!” Ruby watched as her sister climbed onto her bike and began revving the engine. “Don’t forget, be ready at noon next Saturday!” With one final cry, the blonde sped out of the garage and into the sunlight, yellow hair flapping in the wind, leaving Ruby literally in the dust, unable to respond. She coughed and waved her hand in front of her face to clear the air before making her way to the door. Her mind raced as she looked down at the letter in her hand. This was really happening. She’d be going to college in the fall. As a girl, as Ruby. As herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brownie points if you can guess what game I was devoting much of my time to when I wrote this (I parodied it in the chapter lol)


	7. Touch the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I looked in the mirror and I gotta say  
> It's been a long, long time since I felt this way"
> 
> One week later, Ruby is busy getting ready for the dance, but apparently Yang had other plans.

“RUBY ROSE, GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE! GEMMA’S GONNA BE HERE ANY MINUTE!” Ruby winced as Yang’s voice rang through the house and looked at the clock sitting on her nightstand. It was barely 12:10, still totally acceptable to be getting ready if her ride was late. Either way, she needed to shut her sister up, so she yelled back “CHILL, I’LL BE DOWN IN A SEC!” With a huff she turned back to her mirror and resumed fussing with her outfit. Since she was coming back home after shopping but before prom, she figured casual would be fine. As a result, she was wearing her classic red hoodie, usual combat boots, and a simple black skater skirt to hide...that. The real problems with how she looked were her face and hair. She had dark circles under her eyes from getting too little sleep this past week (not that she’d trade it for anything, she’d already finished the main campaign of the gift Qrow had gotten her), there was more stubble on both her chin and upper lip than she liked (despite the fact she’d already shaved _twice_ this morning), and for some reason, her eyes and nose wouldn’t _fucking_ stop itching. Hopefully that would be gone by the time she put some makeup on, but she wasn’t holding her breath.

Then there was her hair. It had been a black and red mess since Yang dragged her out of bed almost two hours beforehand, and hadn’t responded to any of Ruby’s efforts to tame it. She’d briefly considered putting it up in like a ponytail or braid or something, but after trying, she just wasn’t totally comfortable with how it looked. She grabbed a comb from the vanity and ran it through the mess a couple of times, hoping for a small miracle, but no such luck. Resigning herself to the fact she’ll just have to wear her hood all day, she set the comb back down and lightly shook her head. Looking back up at her reflection, she was actually satisfied with how it had turned out. A stylish-but-messy kind of look.

“Of course that’s what does it,” she muttered as she moved over to the bed and began lacing up her boots. Looking down at her hands she realized she forgot to paint her nails last night like she’d intended. Damn Frostborne. Ah well, she didn’t even know what color her dress was gonna be, so maybe it’s just as well she didn’t get around to it. Finishing up the knots, she grabbed her phone and shoved it in the small purse next to her on the bed before heading out her bedroom door and started down the stairs to the first floor. Just as she came to the landing, the sound of car tires crunching on gravel came through an open window, followed by a rhythmic honking.

“Fucking finally!” Yang exclaimed as she walked out of the kitchen, the last corner of a sandwich still in her hand. Ruby watched with a pleading look as her sister finished up what was probably her lunch. “Hey, if you came down earlier like I asked, I would have made you one.” Yang said as she walked past Ruby to the front door. Ruby silently huffed and followed her sister out of the house. As she stepped into the sun, she had to blink a few times to let her eyes adjust to the bright natural light. Once she could see again, she was greeted with the sight of a bright white convertible parked in the driveway, its owner leaning against the driver-side door.

“Hey Ruby! Ready to shop till we drop?” Gemma asked cheerily. Gemma Stone was one of Yang’s oldest childhood friends, and even the person that got her into rugby in the first place. Ruby used to be closer with her when they were younger, but they’d since drifted apart over the years. She was tall and buff, with biceps almost as big as Ruby’s head sprouting from beneath a pale yellow muscle tank, bearing a faded blue design on the center. When they’d been about 12, Ruby used to think she had a crush on Gemma, but always found it hard to tell whether she’d rather be _with_ the girl or _be_ her. She still found the taller girl attractive and admired her confidence, but she didn’t really have any feelings for her anymore. So for now she just waved from behind Yang, who was currently blocking the way off the front step, and scolding the new arrival.

“You were supposed to be here at noon, what took you so long!?”

“I have no idea how you get to school in like 20 minutes, I live like 3 blocks from there and it took me like 45 minutes to get here! How the fuck have you not gotten a ticket yet??” Seeing an opening, Ruby squeezed past her sister and dashed over to the car, waiting by the passenger door for Gemma to unlock the car.

“Oh she has, but it wasn’t for speeding, it was for parking illegally. Now can you just let me in the car please?” Yang seemed taken aback by her sister’s snitching, while Gemma just let out a sharp laugh before unlocking the vehicle by placing a hand on the drivers-side handle. Once she felt the mechanism disengage under her fingers, Ruby yanked open the door and slid into the leather seat and dropped her purse at her feet, eager to escape her sister’s fury that would surely be coming her way. As she looked back where she came, Yang was just calmly walking over to the _other_ side of the car, where Gemma was getting behind the wheel. Yang waited until both girls were safely buckled in and Gemma had turned the ignition before leaning over the edge of the window and speaking.

“Now remember, I want her back by ten, and no funny business. Got that, young lady?” She said in a mock gruff tone. Gemma let out a small chuckle while Ruby just rolled her eyes at her sister’s antics. Gemma gave a mock salute and revved the engine while Yang stepped away from the vehicle.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Xiao Long, no funny business. You have my word,” she managed between giggles that caused even Ruby to crack a slight smile. While this may not have been how she planned to spend this Saturday, she _did_ agree to it, and should probably at least try to enjoy it. Without warning, the convertible lurched into motion, and the pair was pulling out of the long driveway, the wind whipping around the windshield and through Ruby’s hair. Within minutes they were ramping onto the highway into town, and Ruby started going through radio channels, scrolling past ad, talk show, ad, ad, three different channels all playing the exact same classic rock song, and one more ad before settling on a frequency playing Nevermore’s latest single and cranking up the volume so the music could be heard over the road noise. Cruising down the freeway in a convertible with the top and both windows down at like 70 miles per hour certainly made things very loud, so she ended up turning the radio almost to the max volume to be satisfied.

“So Ya-…,” Ruby heard Gemma start to say something, but the rest was drowned out by the music and road noise. “What’d you say?” she responded, turning the volume knob back down and twisting in her seat to pay attention to her friend, who just chuckled and rolled her eyes.

“You really like loud music, huh? Sometimes I wonder if you can hear yourself think over whatever your earbuds play when you’re at school,” Gemma asked with a smile, sneaking a sideways glance at Ruby before returning her eyes to the road. “Anyway, I was saying Yang told me you guys are going to Beacon in the fall, yeah?” Ruby gulped and nodded, suddenly acutely aware of the fact that other people were physically capable of noticing her habits, much less pay attention to them.

“Uh, yeah, got our acceptance letters last weekend and _I_ officially enrolled like two days later, but I don’t know if Yang has yet or not. What about you, what school are you going to?” she asked, genuinely curious about her friend’s future. Much like Ruby and Yang, growing up Gemma hadn’t really known what she’d wanted to do when she was older, but lately she’d taken an interest in acting, so Ruby suspected she might go somewhere for that. Due to the fact they’d drifted apart, she didn’t really know what kind of subjects the other girl was good at or interested in, so maybe this little outing could be a chance for Ruby to reconnect with her friend.

“I’m actually not going to school next year, to be honest.” Gemma replied, and Ruby sank back down in her seat, staring straight ahead. Just great, the first question she’d asked all day and she’d already made an incorrect assumption. That would do wonders for her anxiety about tonight. “I’ve decided to take a gap year, get some work experience under my belt before starting college. Beyond that, I dunno. Might stay in Vale and go to Beacon, but Haven over in Mistral seems like a nice school, and Atlas would be good for what I would want to do, but I doubt I’ll be able to afford it, and that’s assuming I even get in to begin with, which is… a bit of a long shot, haha.” Ruby recognized that thinking. It was how she felt about Beacon. It was her dream school: close to home, a place she could explore her identity, affordable, and a good school all around. But she never thought her grades were good enough to actually get in, or that that they’d discriminate against her for being trans. But this wasn’t about her, it was about Gemma. Which meant she felt, no, _was_ obligated to reassure her friend.

“Hey, I’m sure you’ll get in, they’d be so stupid to reject you of all people,” Ruby said as she rested a hand on Gemma’s shoulder. “Do you know where you wanna work in the meantime?”

“Oh, my aunt owns a bar over in downtown Vale, and she’s already offered me a job, I’m just waiting until graduation before I start work,” Gemma explained. “It’s actually pretty close to the Beacon campus, so you and Yang should come visit sometime!” She sounded excited, but Ruby was barely listening. She was too busy staring out the window, watching as they flew past the exit for the mall, where she had assumed they’d be going. But no, here they were, doing almost 90 mph in the lane farthest from the exit.

“Uhhh, Gemma? We missed the exit for the mall, so………...where are we going?” she asked hesitantly. She hoped Yang knew where they were going, otherwise this would all seem very sketchy.

“Oh, Yang didn’t tell you? My cousin works at this fancy boutique just outside of town, so that’s where I’m taking you, so we can get that sweet employee/”friends and family” discount.” Gemma just casually responded, unaware of Ruby’s wariness. “Wait. On second thought, I might’ve forgotten to tell Yang. Yeah, I don’t think I did. Okay, that’s my bad, that one’s on me.” Ruby instantly felt her stomach turn at the words ‘fancy boutique’.

“Wait, fancy??? Gemma, I don’t have that much money with me!” Ruby complained, reaching down for her purse. Her plan was they were going to the mall, she’d browse clearance racks, and then maybe use the rest of her cash on buying a snack or something, so as a result she only had like 60 Lien in her wallet. As she dug around in her bag, she felt the car slow down, and when she looked up, wallet in hand, they were pulling off the highway. Opening all the pockets and counting every bill and coin she could find, Ruby had bittersweet findings. “So, the good news is, I have slightly more cash with me than I thought, at a whopping 65.74 Lien, but on the downside, I left my fucking credit card at home.”

“Ah, don’t worry, I can cover you,” Gemma waved her hand as if the issue would just magically disappear, but Ruby wasn’t so easily convinced. “We’re here, by the way.” She added before turning off the engine and exiting the now-parked vehicle. Ruby followed suit on her own side, removing her sunglasses from her purse and sliding them onto her face. They were in a very large, quite full parking lot, almost as far from the storefront as possible. As she waited for Gemma to lock the car so they could begin the trek to the store, Ruby surveyed the surrounding vehicles. Most of them were high-end luxury cars, and the ones that weren’t were still expensive imports from Atlas or Mistral, the cheapest one she could find still sold for over a hundred thousand Lien. She shuffled closer to Gemma’s side as they crossed the street and walked up to the doors, suddenly feeling quite out of place among all the money.

“Hey Gem? Are you sure you’re okay covering for me? This place looks, like...... _really_ expensive. I don’t wanna bankrupt you or anything,” Ruby asked as she walked through the glass door Gemma held open for her. Unfortunately, the inside of the shop did nothing to assuage her worries. Despite there being mannequins displaying dresses of oh so many styles and colors, the space gave off a minimalist aesthetic, polished floors visible between the racks of fabric. Grabbing the closest one, she fumbled around until she found the price tag, promptly dropping it once she saw how many 0s were present.

“Of course, don’t worry about it! How long did you say you’ve been on hormones again? If that’s not too personal a question, of course,” Gemma asked as she joined Ruby in thumbing through the racks. Flashing only a momentary glance at her friend, Ruby could’ve sworn she saw a light blush on Gemma’s cheeks that wasn’t there before, but dismissed it as just light reflecting off some of the red dresses before them.

“It is kinda personal yeah, so you shouldn’t like, ask every trans person you just met that, but personally I’m fine with it, since we’ve known each other for so long,” Ruby explained. “It’s been six months, though, almost exactly. Like I started exactly six months before this past Wednesday.” As she talked, a sparkly black piece caught her eye, but once she pulled the hanger loose, she realized said dress showed off much more than Ruby wanted to. With a grimace, she thrust it back and resumed her search.

“Roger that. But in that case, don’t think of this as me covering for you not having enough money, just consider it, like, a gift to celebrate half a year!” Ruby cringed slightly at Gemma’s enthusiasm, since the idea wasn’t doing her anxiety any favors. These dresses and outfits all seemed so expensive, the thought of receiving one as a _gift_ from someone who she wasn’t even that close with anymore made Ruby’s head spin. She was a fraction of a second away from responding before Gemma cut her off. “Oh, there’s my cousin Amber! You keep looking, I’m gonna go say hi.” And suddenly she was gone, bounding off towards the brunette behind the cash register, and leaving Ruby all alone. _‘Well this is going to be fun’_ Ruby thought to herself as she put down another too-tight, too-low-cut, too-small piece of black spandex and moved over to the clearance rack. It was harder to find things in her size, but at least the dresses she did find were more her style (and much cheaper!). She managed to grab a few she liked and was tentatively eyeing a shimmering gold floor-length gown when she was startled by a voice behind her.

“Sorry, Rubes, can’t let you even think about that one,” Gemma had appeared behind her, before taking the hanger from Ruby’s hands and putting it back on the rack. “I’ve been given express orders not to let you get anything yellow or even close to it.” This whole day was surprising for Ruby, but that certainly took the cake. It’s not like she wore yellow often, that was Yang’s color!

“Why no yellow? I mean, not that I’m exactly complaining, I’m not a huge fan of it, but like. At least give me a reason,” she asked.

“’Fraid I can’t tell you yet,” Gemma responded with a wink. “Got some you picked out already? Great, let’s go try them on!” It was only then that Ruby noticed Gemma’s arms were loaded with clothing, and she followed her friend towards the sign labeled “Fitting Rooms” at the back of the store. There was a tiny bit of uncertainty bubbling up in her stomach, and she cringed at the familiar feeling. This happened every time she even thought about entering a women’s bathroom or changing room, the feeling of ‘what if she doesn’t really belong?’, ‘what if she makes someone who’s actually supposed to be there uncomfortable?’, the normal thoughts of a trans girl who didn’t feel like she passed in a public setting. But this time it wasn’t the only thing clouding her mind. Why wasn’t she allowed to wear a specific color??? Yang didn’t have a monopoly on fucking _yellow_ , did she? Ruby could imagine her not wanting to wear the same dress as anyone else, but this didn’t seem like a matter of style. _‘Whatever,’_ Ruby thought to herself as she locked the stall door behind her. She’d find out at some point tonight.

* * *

What followed could best be described as a montage straight out of a rom-com. The next hour flew by as both girls tried on what felt like dozens of dresses and top-skirt combos. Every time they worked through a pile, Gemma would take Ruby by the hand and lead her back out into the store to find more. They’d done this no fewer than four times before each girl had something they were satisfied with. Gemma’d gotten a dark blue dress with silver sparkles scattered around the skirt suggesting a starry night sky and a strapless bodice. The part she was most excited about though, was the two pockets hidden on either side of the skirt. Even Ruby knew that pockets weren’t common on women’s clothing, especially fancy dresses like the kind they were looking for.

Ruby on the other hand, had been ‘convinced’ (read: peer-pressured) into getting a much shorter red dress, that only came down to her knees. The skirt was pleated and hung loosely around her, concealing what she wanted to. A black sash was tied around the waist, giving her at least the illusion of a figure, and above that, the front of the bodice went fairly high up her chest, but a deep cut down the center, laced almost like a corset. Beneath that was a layer of mesh running up to the black collar but stopping before the shoulders, leaving her arms totally bare. Overall, she was relatively satisfied with her choice, even if it was a tad bit too short and lacked official pockets. In a pinch she could pin her phone or something between the main part of the dress and the sash, but that wasn’t ideal.

“Are you sure about the color, Gem?” she’d asked when she first stepped out of the changing room.

“What do you mean?” had been the response from her friend, who only briefly looked up from her phone. “You said red was your favorite color, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know, it feels a bit like it’s...too much or something? I mean, there’s red in my hair, like half my makeup is varying shades of red, my namesake of rubies are red, roses like my _last_ name are red, gods, even my fucking _deadname_ is associated with red!” She watched Gemma stuff her phone in one of her dress pockets and clasp her hands in front of her face. Ruby wasn’t intentionally _trying_ to pick apart her friend’s (and sister’s?) plan, this was just how she was, naturally overthinking the slightest things.

“Ruby, listen to me.” Ruby hadn’t even noticed Gemma stand up and walk over to her, only snapping out of her anxiety at the hands placed on her shoulders. “So, you’ve got a whole lot of red going on. Who cares!? You said it’s your favorite color, right? No one’s going to judge you for that. Remember that transfer student from Atlas a couple years ago? The really pale one with hair whiter than mine?” Ruby nodded and Gemma continued. “She practically wore a wedding dress to prom. Looked like she just walked out of a fucking blizzard, just the living embodiment of the color white. White hair, almost pure white skin, light grey eyes, white dress, white shoes, white nails, the whole nine yards. And no one bat an eye. So believe me when I say, no one is going to notice you looking like a cute little cherry.” As nice as it was to be called cute, Ruby’s concerns weren’t totally abated. As if she could tell this, Gemma tacked on an additional piece of bribery: “If you get that dress, we can stop for a cookie on the way home.” And just like that, she was sold. Within minutes, Gemma had paid for both dresses and the girls were placing them in the trunk of the convertible, before getting back in the front seats and driving off again.

* * *

“Y’know, your attempt at bribing me is a lot less.... sketchy than Yang’s,” Ruby said as she finished the last bite of her double chocolate chip cookie. “Did you know she tried to pimp the team out just to try to get me to go tonight?” She withdrew her arm from the open window and turned to the driver, smirking at her friend’s shocked expression.

“I’m sorry, she _what_?” Gemma asked, only briefly tearing her eyes from the road to glance at Ruby. “Did- did you just say she tried to _pimp us out_?? Like for sex??? Sorry Ruby, but I’m straight, and I’m not sure I can picture any of the other girls going for something like that...” she trailed off as the absurdity of the situation seemed to take hold and a laugh began to form. Her mirth was infectious, and soon Ruby found herself following suit, chuckling as she turned back towards the window and the bright blue sky outside it. What few clouds dotted the sky were large and puffy, like large swaths of soft cotton, inviting her to reach out and touch them.

“No, not quite,” Ruby explained lazily. “She just said she’d get me ‘a date with a member of the team’. I didn’t even know she’d be picking my date until after I turned her down.”

“Oh, yeah, I think she did mention something about that this week. A shame, too, I think someone on the team has a crush on you.” The very idea of someone liking Ruby was enough to snap her out of her daze, but before she could pry for more information, a loud ringtone began playing through the car speakers. “Ope one sec, gotta get this.” Gemma quipped as she hit a button on the steering wheel to answer the call.

 _“Bitch, where the fuck are you guys? You were supposed to be here like an hour ago!”_ A shrill voice started blaring from the speaker, and Ruby winced at the sudden shift in volume.

“Whoa, chill out Hahli, we’re just getting off the highway now, we’ll be there in a bit.” Gemma answered, and Ruby got the sudden suspicion that she wasn’t being told the whole truth about plans for tonight. Sure enough, just as Gemma said, they were pulling off the highway and onto an exit ramp, but not one Ruby recognized as being near her house.

 _“Whatever, just hurry up, the limo’s going to be here soon and we want group pictures before we leave. My mom made cookies too, so get your asses over here before they’re gone. ‘K, love you, byeeeeee~!”_ Ruby stared at the dashboard as there was a click and the line went dead, the radio music slowly fading back in. First of all, what the _fuck_ was going on? She was under the impression Gemma was just taking her dress-shopping, then she’d be taken home to get ready, and then somehow get to the dance with Yang (now that she thought about it, fancy dresses and a motorcycle didn’t seem like a good combination), but apparently, she was being taken where presumably all the seniors on the rugby team were getting ready? And more cookies??? As more and more pieces came together, Ruby realized she needed to figure out everyone else’s plans as soon as possible.

“I thought you were taking me back to my place so I could like... get ready for prom and shit?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at Gemma.

“Hm? No, we’re going to Hahli’s house to get ready, because not only is she team captain, her house is _stupid_ big and like...really fancy, so it’s a great backdrop for pictures,” Gemma answered. “We should be coming up on it soon, and I _promise_ you’ll get an explanation there.” As Ruby watched out the window, houses along the road were getting both bigger and more spread out, with the occasional gate at the end of some driveways.

“I sure hope so...” she muttered under her breath, keeping her gaze out the window. After no more than a few minutes, Gemma turned the car down a narrow road flanked by trees, and Ruby was slightly taken by the surrounding woods. She hardly noticed them thinning until they flat out stopped, and Gemma tapped on her shoulder, pointing forward. Ahead of them was a building so vast and ornate, Ruby would’ve been more inclined to call it a palace than a house. In addition to two massive circular stone towers at either end, gargoyles dotted the edges of the roof and balconies, and a large fountain dead ahead captured Ruby’s attention. As Gemma pulled the car around a loop before the grand front doors, surrounding the statue and giving Ruby a better look. It appeared to be made of black stone, and depicted a man raising a sword in one hand, the other bearing a shield against a rearing bear, water falling from its mouth. Finally, the car was shifted into park and both girls disembarked, Ruby grabbing the bag with her new dress from the backseat while Gemma just moved her purchase to the trunk.

“You’re not taking yours inside?” Ruby asked as they climbed the steps away from the car.

“Hm? Oh, no, the one I’m actually wearing tonight is already here, I just bought that one today because it looked pretty,” Gemma responded. Without hesitating, she reached out and pushed open one of the grand front doors, gesturing for Ruby to enter and shortly following suit.

Upon entering the foyer, Ruby had to take a moment just to take in the opulence of the building she was standing in. In the center of the room was a large, ornate crystal chandelier, illuminating a plush red carpet with gold trim running down the center of the room. At the end of the carpet was another set of double doors, flanked by two matching marble staircases, each curving outwards before meeting above the doors at a balcony running the perimeter of the room.

“ _What the fuck,”_ Ruby whispered under her breath as Gemma walked forward and started climbing one of the staircases. She got the distinct feeling it would be easy to get lost, given she had no idea where she was meant to be going, so she quickly hurried after her friend, who actually seemed to know her way around. In fact, once they got to the second floor, all the hallways looked the same, and with no way to see into the many rooms they were passing, Ruby had no idea what any of them were. Finally, after no fewer than five whole minutes of walking, Ruby began to hear muffled voices that grew louder and louder, until they were standing in front of a slightly opened door. Gemma turned back and winked at Ruby before throwing open the door and strutting into the room, evidently missing the slightly panicked look on Ruby’s face. She hesitantly followed, acutely aware of the fact that this was the first time seeing many of these girls since being out to them, and as a result most of them had never seen her present femme.

The first thing that struck Ruby about the room Gemma led her into was the size. This one room was almost as big (if not bigger than) as the entire second floor of her house, and much more elegantly furnished. A large canopy bed sat with its head against the left wall, opposite an ornate fireplace that matched the tile flooring, save for the red carpet running down the center of the room to a pair of glass double doors leading to a balcony. A dressing screen was set up on the opposite side of the bed, with several different garments thrown over top of it, while opened folding doors on the nearer side revealed a walk-in closet almost filled to bursting with clothes and shoes. In the far corner of the room was a closed door, presumably leading to an en-suite bathroom, because why wouldn’t there be one? The seniors of the Signal Academy girls’ rugby team were scattered around the room, all in various states of dress. Out on the balcony, two girls Ruby recognized as the twin Malachite sisters, Melanie and Miltia were both wearing sparkly gold and silver dresses, striking various poses as another girl (who was clad in just casual attire) took pictures on a fancy camera. Back inside the room, a group of four girls were sat in a circle on the bed playing some card game Ruby couldn’t recognize from a distance. What shocked her the most, though, was the fact that while three of the girls, all with their backs to the door, were all dressed up in fancy dresses, which was to be expected of prom, the fourth, and the only one who could see the door, was wearing nothing but her bra and underwear. Upon catching sight of Ruby and Gemma, the girl gathered up a couple products from the bed and bounded over to them, her long black cat tail trailing behind her.

“Rubyyyyy!!! Thank gods you’re finally here,” she exclaimed as she skid to a halt in front of Ruby. “I need your help. Which eyeshadow do you think your sister will like more?”

“Um....I- Huh? What?” Ruby managed to stammer out, doing her best to not stare in a gay daze at the lacy yellow ( _What is with all the yellow today???)_ bra containing the pair of boobs mere feet from her face. At the same time, Gemma confidently let out a mock hurt “Wow, Hahli, it sure is good to see you too!”

“Fuck off Gemma, I saw you this morning. I _literally_ haven’t seen Ruby since she came out, I think I’m allowed to be excited,” Hahli huffed. “Anywaaaaaaayyyyyyy, which one? I think the purple one goes well with my hair and all that, but gold is more ‘in-theme’, you know? So I wanted to get Yang’s input, but since she’s not here, you’ll have to do (no offense).” Ruby just stared at her, dumbfounded. What the fuck did Yang have to do with anything? Why wasn’t Yang _here_!? Ruby decided she really needed to get to the bottom of things.

“Uh, why do you want my, or I guess Yang’s, opinion specifically?” she tentatively asked, scrutinizing the faunus’ face for a hint of anything in response, but was instead just met with wide, dark eyes returning her gaze.

“Oh, you didn’t know? Yang’s taking me to prom,” Hahli explained. It took her more than a few seconds for Ruby to process what she was hearing. Yang was taking a girl to prom? Where was this coming from? Were they secretly dating and Ruby didn’t know about it?? _Wait a minute, isn’t she..._

“Wait, hold on a second here, Hahli, aren’t you straight???”

“Yes, and? If a girl wants me to go to prom with her, I’m not allowed to say yes? Don’t worry Ruby, it’s not a date or anything, your sister and I are just friends. Besides, it’ll make my ex _hella_ jealous,” she added the last part under her breath, trying not to draw attention to it.

Ruby’s mind was riddled with confusion. Yang hadn’t said anything about taking Hahli to prom, just that she and the rest of the seniors on the team were doing something special tonight. Did this have to do with the fact everyone in the room except herself were wearing yellow? And where the actual _fuck_ was Yang? She needed time to figure things out, maybe even text her sister.

“Do you have like, a bathroom or somewhere I can get changed?” she asked, gesturing to the dress bag held over her shoulder. Hahli took a second to process the request, staring at Ruby with wide yellow eyes in the meantime, before finally realizing what was being asked of her and reverting back to her somewhat-hyper self.

“Oh, yeah, just through that door back there on the right, can’t miss it!” Leaving Gemma to sort out her own dressing situation, Ruby made her way across the expansive room, giving a short wave and a half smile whenever one of the girls scattered around called out to her. In what felt like the blink of an eye, the door was swinging shut behind her, and she quickly locked it for good measure, too. If even she didn’t want to see her own body, she very much doubted anyone else wanted to either. Cautiously, she crept forward, careful to keep her gaze away from the mirror. The room was big, marble and stone tiles lining the floor and even extending partway up the wall, with a large circular tub set into the floor beneath a bay window in the opposing wall, and an equally large shower stall set into the right wall. Gingerly Ruby hung the bag with her dress on a hook near the door and started slowly undressing, carefully folding her clothes, and placing them on the nearby wall-mounted bench. Unzipping the garment bag, it suddenly hit her what was happening. She was going to senior prom. In a dress. As Ruby. As _herself_.

“ _Fuck_ ,” she whispered. Thank gods she was getting dressed before putting on her makeup, tears were already starting to form in her eyes. How many times had she literally _dreamed_ of this happening but decided it wasn’t worth the hassle, the anxiety, the _stress_? Too many to count, that’s for sure. Now that she was actually, finally here, sliding the dress up her legs and fitting her arms through the “sleeves”, the whole scenario didn’t feel real. A quick pinch to her arm confirmed it was indeed real, no matter how it felt. She managed to get the zipper most of the way but struggled to bring it up the last little bit to the base of her neck. After several attempts and all-too-many different positions, she decided the easiest course of action would be to just text Gemma to come in and help her.

 _🌹Ruby🌹_ : _hey gemma, can u come help me the zipper on this dress_

 _💎_ _Gemms_ _💎_ _: sure ill b right there!!_

Seconds later, Ruby jumped as the sound of knocking rang through the room. _Damn acoustics..._ she thought as she walked over and unlocked the door, opening it slightly to let Gemma slip in. The blonde’s heels clacked on the tile floor as she strode into the bathroom, echoing off the walls and filling the previously quiet room with noise. Her floor length gown shimmered gold in the light from the windows, and once again Ruby had the sinking suspicion that she wasn’t being told the whole truth about her sister’s plans for the evening. She was startled out of her stupor though, as Gemma turned around and clapped her hands, the sound reverberating through the room.

“Alright, turn around and lemme help you with that zipper!” she exclaimed, staring Ruby down as the shorter girl sheepishly turned around and swept her hair out of the way. Once the zipper was securely at the top, Ruby turned back around and thanked her friend, who was already on her way to the door.

“C’mon, let’s get to work on that face,” Gemma said, her one hand on the handle, the other gesturing for Ruby to follow her.

“Wait, what?” Ruby was surprised, and for a multitude of reasons. “I don’t have any of my makeup and stuff here, I left it all at home, because I didn’t realize you’d be _kidnapping_ me. Also, this is like…a lot going on today? And I’m just not sure I can go out there in front of everyone and do my own makeup.” It felt like the dam that had been holding back all her anxieties about tonight had sprung a leak, and was slowly starting to drain, for better or worse. On the one hand, she felt a surprising sense of calm about the actual event, but on the other hand, she was increasingly worried about these people she was actually kind of close to. Everyone who didn’t really know her, she’d already written off that they probably didn’t have the best opinion of her as a person, given that she was already a bit of a social outcast even before coming out, but she was also _terrified_ that she’d somehow embarrass herself in front of her friends. What if-

“Ruby, listen to me.” Ruby blinked her eyes, suddenly aware that the scene had changed. Gemma was standing in front of her, her hands on Ruby’s shoulders as she stared down into the shorter girl’s eyes. “I know it’s scary to do all this, I was terrified my first time at prom, and I can only imagine how much harder it might be for you. But that’s part of why Yang wanted you here with _us_ tonight. No one on the team is going to judge you, or laugh at you, nothing. We want you to be as comfortable as possible, so you can actually have fun tonight, which is why Yang dropped off all your makeup and whatnot while we were out, and why there’s literally no one outside that door.” She extended an arm behind her to point to the bathroom door, which incidentally was what Ruby had focused on during the entire speech.

“There’s….. there’s nobody out there? Where’d they all go?” Strangely enough, that was one of only two big things she focused on in that speech, the other being the fact that Yang was apparently here somewhere? Gemma also seemed surprised that that’s what she commented on, by her expression.

“Uh, I think to go take pictures in the courtyard maybe? Either that or the limo is here. Who knows, maybe both.” It was made as such an offhand remark Ruby barely registered the word “limo”.

“Wh- a _limo_??? What the fuck???” Begrudgingly, Ruby followed her friend’s gentle gestures and started moving toward the door, Gemma’s arm around her shoulder.

“Yeah, I mean have you seen the house we’re in right now? Like I said, Hahli’s family is _stupid_ rich, of course they’d get a limo to drive us to prom.” With that, Gemma pulled open the door, revealing the indeed-now-empty main bedroom. It was eerily silent as the two girls made their way first over to the door to collect Ruby’s shoes, and then as Gemma led her over to a vanity table behind the dressing screen, complete with a large mirror wider than Ruby was tall. In the center of the table was a square box covered in red fabric and black metal, that Ruby had painted herself. As she perched herself on the stool facing the mirror, she reached out to open her makeup case, only for Gemma to _literally_ swat her hand away and wag a finger in Ruby’s face.

“Uh-uh. Nope. Girls are supposed to be pampered before prom, let me pamper you.”

“But-“

“Nope! No buts! Now close your eyes and let’s get started.” Ruby did as she was told, closing her eyes and tilting her head this way and that, in time with Gemma’s instructions. Eventually there was a break as Gemma worked on Ruby’s eyes so Ruby could use her mouth.

“Wait, is Yang here? You mentioned she brought all my stuff by, but I didn’t see her earlier, so where is she?” There was a brief pause in her workings as Gemma let Ruby finish speaking, before returning to the task at hand.

“Oh, no, she’s not here. Look up? Yeah she said she didn’t have time to stick around, had to go pick up her outfit, apparently she got it altered or something, so she’s gonna meet us at school. Alright, close your eyes again.”

“Hm, ok. I wanted to ask her what’s going on, why like everyone is wearing yellow or gold or whatever, I kinda assumed that was like…. _her_ color, y’know?”

“ _Oh_ , yeah, that. Yeah there is a reason for that, but I’m not allowed to tell you.” It took all Ruby’s willpower to stop herself from launching a barrage of questions at her stylist, but instead let out a mangled “What?”  
  
“Ok, totally honest with you here, I wasn’t supposed to even tell you that, so _sssssshhhhhhhh!_ Forget I ever said anything about Yang or the color yellow, ‘kay?” Gemma held a finger up to Ruby’s mouth, waiting to move at all until Ruby reluctantly nodded her head. “Great. Now, I think we’re all done, if you want to see?”  
Gritting her teeth, Ruby stood, steeling herself against what she feared, but still expected, to see. But as she faced the mirror, her jaw dropped.

She didn’t even recognize her own reflection. Standing in front of her was an elegant woman, far from the mental image she held of herself. The cut of the dress gave the illusion of a bigger chest than she actually had, and the flare of the skirt hid her lack of hips. Tearing her eyes away from her own boobs, her attention was drawn to her face, scrutinizing every detail, from the faint pink lipstick that was almost identical to her natural lip color, to the dark red and orange eyeshadow that made it look like there were flames rising from long, dark lashes. Gingerly, Ruby stepped forward and raised her hand to her face, mesmerized at how the image in front of her followed suit.

“That’s…. me?” Her voice was filled with wonder, and she was dimly aware of Gemma putting Ruby’s makeup back where she’d gotten it from. She couldn’t remember the last time things had felt this _right_ when she looked in a mirror, maybe never.

“Yeah, that’s you, that’s Ruby. For the record, I barely _touched_ your lashes, those bitches are amazing by nature.” Once she’d closed the makeup box, Gemma turned and joined Ruby at the mirror, standing off to the side and just behind the shorter girl. “Now c’mon, let’s get downstairs, Hahli texted that the limo’s here.” Barely waiting for an answer, she grabbed Ruby’s hand and started power-walking to the door, Ruby struggling to keep up in her new heels. _‘Stupid lady stilts,’_ Ruby thought to herself as she was practically dragged down the hallway. Aside from the sound of footfalls on the plush carpet, the hallways were quiet, and a strange sense of calm settled over Ruby. Given the sheer size of the event, she knew she should’ve felt nervous, anxious, scared, _something_ , but surprisingly, she felt fine, like everything would be ok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooo this chapter is the reason so much time passed between updates, I wrote it very off and on with plenty of long breaks in between, so if it feels kinda.... disjointed or whatever, yeah that's why. I just kept having ideas for exchanges or scenes like "oh haha that'd be funny" but they *had* to go in this chapter to keep the title Touch the Sky and just yeah, that's another reason this one is so long.


	8. A Night to Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iiiiiiiiiiiit's Prom time!!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I used a non-RWBY song title for a chapter, sue me! I'm a child of 1999, I grew up with High School Musical.  
> (I know I could've used Celebrate or Shine or smth but I wanted to establish a precedent for when a future chapter uses a non-RWBY song bc afaik no RWBY songs fit)

Having never ridden in a limo in her entire life, Ruby wasn’t sure what to expect from the ride from Hahli’s house to Signal Academy. Part of her thought there would be rows of seats down the length of the vehicle, like a normal car but longer, and with like 8 or 9 times the seating capacity, but she knew that wasn’t right. Limousines were party vehicles, and it’d be hard to effectively party when everyone was separated into small groups of seats or rows. So, she wasn’t all that surprised when Gemma had practically shoved her into the open car door and she was faced with an open floor area along the length of the vehicle, with black leather seats lining the walls, save for two doors at both ends, in each corner of the car. It was at one of these ends Ruby found herself now, sandwiched between Hahli Hock and Gemma Stone, staring down the length of the limo, its black leather interior filled with the yellows and golds of the seniors on the Signal Girl’s Rugby team and their dresses giving the impression of looking down the inside of a giant bumblebee. 

“So, Ruby, have you been to prom before?” Hahli asked. 

“I mean, not like, _officially_ , no, but technically kinda yes?” Ruby answered, acutely aware of everything happening in the back of the vehicle. Hahli was staring at her, leaning against a tinted window, while on the other side of Ruby, Gemma was using her phone’s camera as a mirror to touch up her makeup (but still paying attention to Ruby and the ongoing conversation), Melanie and Miltia Malachite, a few seats ahead, were engrossed in gossip with a short orange-haired girl Ruby didn’t recognize, and the remaining girls were clustered at the other end, taking what must be dozens of selfies. At Ruby’s response however, Hahli sat up and leaned forward, clearly intrigued by Ruby’s choice of words.

“Oh? What do you mean by “officially”?” She asked.

“Yeah, is it because, like, tickets are only sold to seniors and one invited you as a date when you were still a sophomore or something? Because that totally counts as going, just so you know,” Gemma piped up, putting her makeup and phone back in her clutch purse and turning toward Ruby and Hahli. “Like freshman year I went with some douchebag senior because he asked and I didn’t know what ‘red flags’ were. Buuuuuuut then he was a total asshole and I never saw him again, so I guess it all worked out.”

“Um, no, not like that, no one’s ever asked me out. Even if they did, I’m not sure I would’ve said yes, I haven’t exactly - uh, how do I put this - been the most _comfortable_ with my body since I started high school, haha,” Ruby explained. She raised a hand to the back of her neck and laughed sheepishly, and Hahli and Gemma in turn nodded understandingly. “No, yeah, when Yang and I were younger, like late elementary, early middle school age, Dad was a chaperone for the dance and he didn’t want to leave us home alone, so he’d take us to Uncle Qrow’s if he was in town, or he’d just bring us to school and we’d hang out in his office while he was watching the dance floor or whatever.”

She relaxed back as she finished speaking, thinking back to those past times. In hindsight, those nights she and Yang spent bored in a tiny room spoke quite a bit about their respective personalities. Ruby usually just whiled away the hours laying across a chair playing video games, attempting (and usually failing) to ignore Yang’s attempts at starting a conversation or sneak out to watch the older kids at the dance. The one time Ruby _had_ left with Yang, she’d gotten to the dancefloor and been so overwhelmed with mixed feelings that she’d immediately turned around and retreated from whence she came. All the pretty girls with their pretty dresses were so much more appealing than the yucky boys in their bland cookie-cutter suits, Ruby didn’t know what to think, her feelings just didn’t feel right for who she was supposed to be. Of course, that was like 8 years ago, and she’d learned so much since then, both about the world and about herself. 

_*VROOM VROOM*_

Suddenly, a loud engine-revving sound brought Ruby out of her reverie, to which almost every girl in the limo (save Ruby) started screaming and yelling and hollering, Gemma and Hahli to a lesser extent than the rest. Ruby was suddenly very confused.

“Wait, that sounded like Bumblebee, what’s going on?” Ruby asked, swiveling her head between Hahli and Gemma, mind racing a mile a minute. “Why is everyone so excited, what aren’t you guys telling me? Actually, hold on a second. Why the _fuck_ was I _banned_ from wearing fucking YELLOW, when literally everyone else is wearing almost exclusively that exact color?” She watched as the girls at each of her sides shared a glance, her anger only growing until Hahli broke the silence.

“Gem, you didn’t tell her yet??”

“No! You and Yang told me to wait until she couldn’t back out, I wasn’t sure of that until we got in the damn car!” ‘ _Oh that’s reassuring to hear,’_ Ruby thought. “Besides, this was NOT my idea, if anyone should explain it, it should be you and/or Yang.” Gemma’s tone was firm, and Ruby turned in her seat to fully face Hahli, raising a single eyebrow in question.

“Alright, fine.” The faunus closed her eyes and let out a sigh, massaging her temple as if this were some Herculean undertaking. “Look, Ruby, I don’t know what Gemma or Yang have told you about what our team is planning for tonight, so. I apologize if what I’m about to tell you scares you or makes you uncomfortable.” Ruby’s mind was in overdrive, trying to think up possible scenarios to explain the serious behavior. At least half the girls here were gay or bi, they wouldn’t have a giant orgy, would they?? No, and certainly not at a _school-sanctioned event_. Oh no, was Yang going to hijack the DJ and start a flash mob? Deciding that was the most believable and least scarring option, Ruby chose to believe that’s what was coming.

“We’re attending prom as Yang’s harem.”

_‘ Okaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy, not what I was expecting’_ Ruby thought to herself as she struggled to process the seven words she’d just heard. What the fuck was that supposed to mean, “Yang’s _Harem_ ”? Somehow, she managed to stutter out a “I-I’m sorry, what?”

“Yeah, someone, I think it was Azura’s younger brother?, made a comment about how the team is basically a harem for your sister, like Yang bosses us around because she’s captain and the majority of the team likes women, including Yang herself. And as like, half a joke, I suggested we roll with it for prom, because fuck it why not, and Yang decided to roll with it. So that’s why all the yellow on us and none for you, it’s supposed to be like a Yang-and-her-whores thing, and nobody wanted to even slightly suggest the implication that you might be in your own sister’s harem, so no yellow for you.” Hahli explained, and with each addition, Ruby could feel her face growing redder with embarrassment.

Suddenly, the limo came to a stop, and Gemma and Hahli nodded at each other over Ruby’s shoulder. Within seconds, the cabin of the vehicle was aflutter with activity as girls rearranged themselves and all made their way to various seats. Ruby watched in confusion as one of the far doors opened and a hand appeared in the space, which the nearest girl took to help exit the vehicle. She barely had time to process this, however, before Hahli started shoving her toward the door exactly opposite the now open one.

“Ok, there, now you know everything. Now, get out of here!” A bit disgruntled, Ruby obliged and swiftly exited the vehicle, stepping out into the brisk evening air. As the door slammed shut behind her, she turned around to see the back of a bright yellow mane across the roof of the vehicle, as various members of the team exited to stand alongside her. Ruby rounded the car and began stalking up to her sister, but stopped when she noticed her sister’s attire.

Standing beside the open car door was one Yang Xiao Long, clad in a bright yellow tuxedo, complete with yellow blazer, vest, and slacks, the only thing seeming out of place were the undone top buttons of the white shirt underneath, showing off its wearer’s collarbone. Every time she helped a new team member out of the limo, she would bend forward and kiss their hand, often eliciting a giggle or smirk from the recipient. Ruby, however, just rolled her eyes and resumed her approach. By the time she made it to her sister, Yang was aiding Gemma, who actually blushed and retracted her hand before Yang could kiss it, before moving to the crowd of girls standing on the curb in front of the school entrance. She caught Ruby’s eye and gave her a small wave, causing Yang to turn around and finally notice her younger sister.

“Hey, there’s the girl of the hour! Lookin’ sharp, Rubes! Have fun with the girls so far?” she asked with a smile, a glint of mischief flashing across her lilac eyes. As soon as she turned back to assist Hahli out of the limo, Ruby took the opportunity to flip Yang off with both hands, and while she _was_ planning on putting them down almost immediately, then she heard Yang address her “date” as “m’lady”, so she kept them up until Yang returned attention to her.

“You’re dead to me, Xiao Long,” Ruby muttered, barely loud enough for her sister to hear. “I can’t believe you wanted me to come to prom with you, when you knew everyone else was going as your _harem_!” she exclaimed, flinching as Yang wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Ah, not just mine, but _our_ harem, comrade!” Yang answered in a bad foreign accent. Before Ruby could protest, Yang had turned them so they were now facing the school, which was currently decorated with streamers and paper lanterns for the big event. At a snap of Yang’s fingers, the girls of the team flocked around the sisters, like trophy wives at a fancy gala. _This is so dumb_ , Ruby thought, though she wasn’t ungrateful that the two people she was most comfortable with (though that didn’t say much at this point), Gemma and Hahli, were the only ones around her. Yang let out a whistle and the group started moving forward, like a weird squadron of soldiers, “Let’s get this party started!

* * *

To nobody’s surprise, prom was almost exactly as boring and uninteresting to Ruby as she’d expected. The only part so far she’d actually _enjoyed_ was the pictures, and even then it was often more fun when she was behind the camera instead of in front of it (thanks dysphoria!). Some of the girls (namely Yang, Hahli, and Gemma) had physically dragged her onto the dance floor and tried to make her dance, but she’d stuck around and halfheartedly moved her limbs for exactly one song before escaping to the food table. After piling one of those little dessert plates high with everything from brownies and cookies to chocolate covered-strawberries and marshmallows, she beat a hasty retreat to the outdoor seating of the cafeteria, just outside the gymnasium. Once there, she spent several minutes scrolling through social media on her phone and stuffing her face, although she was put off her appetite once she noticed the couple not-so-subtly making out in a darkened corner, so now her focus was almost entirely on memes.

“There you are!” a voice exclaimed behind her. Ruby turned to see Gemma walking toward her from the open gym doors, the bright lights of the dance flashing behind her. Ruby gave her a head-nod and turned back to her phone, only looking up as the blonde slid into the seat opposite her. “Mind if I snag some of these? I’m starving,” Gemma asked, already reaching for the remaining food on Ruby’s plate. In response Ruby locked her phone and just pushed the plate forward.

“Go for it,” she said. “I kinda lost my appetite once I noticed the lovebirds over there.” She explained, gesturing to the couple in the corner.

“Oh for fuck’s sake” Gemma sighed, reaching down to grab a pebble off the concrete. Without warning, she threw it at the couple, suppressing a snicker as it bounced off the boy’s forehead and fell into his partner’s cleavage. “Get a room you two!” They both shot Gemma annoyed looks, but got up and left anyway.

“ _Wow_ Gemma, way to kill the mood,” Ruby complained, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “What’re you doing out here anyway? I thought you actually, you know, _liked_ dancing?” While she waited for Gemma to finish chewing, she reached over and snagged one last bite-size brownie for the night.

“Bhmcph- _*gulp*_ Because whoever’s running the music started playing a bunch of slow music and everybody started pairing up and being all like close and stuff,” Gemma explained. “Hahli and your sister were acting like a couple, and everyone else on the team had their own partners or something, and I wondered where you'd run off to, so I figured I’d go find my favorite Rose-Xiao Long sister.” Ruby couldn’t help but blush at being called a favorite sister. “So, you know my story, what about you? Why are you out here?”

“I dunno, really,” Ruby answered. “Yang can attest to the fact that I’ve never really been big on dancing. First it was ‘too girly’ for me, because I was _a boy, and boys don’t do girly things_ , then once I got older I was kinda okay with that aspect, but at that point I realized dancing was more about your body, and I hated my body. Someone would tell me ‘Oh, just relax, let your body move with the rhythm!’ or some bullshit, and I just…. _couldn’t._ I couldn’t just let go, I was too aware of every little thing, my chest, my limbs, even my fucking shoulders, none of them matched my own vision of myself and I wasn’t able to forget that.” Ah shit, was she crying now? She didn’t want to cry now, she was supposed to be having a good time. Touching her face, she couldn’t feel any tears running down her cheeks, but they were definitely pooling in her eyes. Hopefully Gemma used her tear-proof mascara when she did Ruby’s makeup. “So yeah. That’s why I’m not in there dancing with everyone. I’ve never really liked dancing as a concept, and I kinda thought tonight might be better, because like, I’ve started hormones and stuff, and there have been _some_ changes, at least, but I guess not. I needed to get out of there, and this had the fewest people.” She wasn’t sure exactly when Gemma had gotten up, but now she was seated directly next to Ruby, wrapping the shorter girl in a hug. The height difference arranged their bodies such that Gemma rested her head atop Ruby’s, who was being held to the taller girl’s chest. 

“Aw, I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all that,” Gemma consoled, using one hand to stroke Ruby’s hair. “I’m especially sorry we tried to make you do something you didn’t want to, I had no idea it was anything other than just being shy. I just want you to know, I’m here for you if you ever want to talk or vent about anything.” Ruby whispered her thanks for the sentiment, and the pair descended into silence. After a few minutes in that position, Gemma pulled away and checked over Ruby’s makeup, ensuring that there were no tear stains.

“Alright, now, let’s get you out of here,” Gemma said, standing up and offering a hand to Ruby. “They’re about to announce Prom Court, and I have a feeling you’re gonna wanna see it.” Ruby took the hand and also stood, wobbling for a second because she forgot she was wearing heels. Once she was steady, the two set off back towards the gym, Gemma dumping the empty food plate in a recycling bin.

“Why, is Yang one of the nominees for Prom King?” Ruby asked. It didn’t seem like that far-fetched an idea, especially since Yang was wearing a tux, and technically brought several girls to the dance. She half expected Yang to even _win_ King, and then Hahli or someone on the team to win Queen.

“Something like that,” Gemma answered, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Ruby groaned; that was never a good sign.

The gym was packed with people when Gemma and Ruby arrived, most facing the makeshift stage at one end. They fought their way through the crowd until they reached Yang and Hahli, who seemed to be situated in the dead center of the mass of people. As soon as they reached the two, Hahli and Gemma sharing a high-five while Yang wrapped one arm around her sister’s shoulders and pulled her into a quick side-hug.

“Hey, there’s the little troublemaker!” she exclaimed. “Have fun out there, brooding in the darkness like a teenage Batwoman?” Her tone was teasing, but Ruby could tell her sister was actually concerned for her.

“Nah, just took a break to check up on the internet. You know how the 24-hour meme cycle is, and I’ve already been offline for so much today,” Ruby replied, half-truthfully. She didn’t want to tell Yang about what she’d talked about with Gemma, at least not here. Yang was actually having fun tonight, Ruby didn’t want to take anything away from that, there’d be plenty of time to talk at home tonight or whenever. “Gemma said I’d want to be here for Prom Court announcements, you going to be elected Prom King or something?”

“Oh shit! Damn, that would’ve been hilarious, I can’t believe we didn’t think of that!” Yang exclaimed. “But no, not that, so just pipe down and listen for yourself.” A boy in a pure black suit was climbing the steps to the stage, a spotlight following his path to the microphone in the center. Ruby recognized him as the Student Body President, but didn’t know his name.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow seniors of Signal Academy!” he began, waiting for the cheers to die down before continuing. “I do hope you’re all enjoying the wonderful dance that has been lovingly put on for us, I know I sure am! But enough pleasantries. It’s time for what I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for, the Prom Court election results! Drumroll, please!” Ruby mimed a gagging motion as an extended drumroll began playing over the speakers, drawing a hushed giggle from Gemma, who was standing next to her. The president finally withdrew his hand from an inner pocket in his blazer, raising it high into the light, clutching two ornate envelopes. Bringing the hand back down, he opened one envelope and leaned into the mic. 

“First, the runaway victory for Prom King, a landslide over the few other candidates. Your new Prom King is……” He paused to build suspense, and the drumroll resumed from the speakers. “Cardin Winchester!”

Ruby rolled her eyes. She didn’t know a lot about her classmate Cardin, but she was okay with that. All she knew was that he was a bigoted _asshole_ , often bullying some of the faunus in lower classes, and sometimes even branching out into those in their own class. No matter how disgusting his behavior, he seemingly never once got in trouble, and even remained popular among other students. She didn’t know his opinion on anything gay or queer, but she was sure it wasn’t good. She rolled her eyes and Hahli let out an angry huff as he climbed up to the stage and received his sash and crown. Of course _he_ would win the popularity contest that was Prom King, probably intimidated all the competition into dropping out of the race.

“And now, for the much more contested, and much _closer_ race from Prom Queen, including one last-minute entrant!” The president began again, flipping open the envelope with his hands but keeping his eyes on the crowd. “Now, this year’s Prom Queen iiiiiiis…….. One Ruby Rose!”

_What._

_The._

_Fuck._

Ruby was momentarily blinded as the spotlight panned to her, and the crowd around her erupted into applause. The people split before her, creating a path to the stage, but Ruby started slowly backing up, trying to put as much distance between her and the stage as possible. This was too much attention, her goal tonight was to not stand out, not _get elected fucking Prom Queen!_ Before she could get too far, however, hands suddenly grabbed her arms and started pushing her forward. Frantically turning her head this way and that, she saw the hands belonged to Hahli and Gemma, the latter offering a weak smile and a mouthed ‘Sorry!’. As the two pushed Ruby closer and closer to the raised platform, they passed Yang, and Ruby managed to hiss out “Yang, what the fuck did you do?” But Yang just smiled and pretended not to hear her as her sister was pushed up onstage, standing unfortunately close to Cardin.

At this point, Ruby was in a daze. She could barely see past the first row of students, the lights from the ceiling blinding her and throwing the rest of the gymnasium into relative darkness. She was dimly aware of a sash being draped over her torso and a tiara placed on her head, but couldn’t tell anyone who had done it or what either item looked like. The Student Body President said something to the crowd and the lights returned to normal as he and Cardin stepped down to the floor, and Ruby started walking forward, almost trancelike. Thankfully, someone caught her before she hit the ground, and put her back on her feet. She continued walking until her vision was filled with Yang’s face.

“Oh, shit, Rubes, are you ok??” Ruby could hear her sister’s questions, but they were muffled, like she was underwater. She opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out, or at least none that she could hear. This apparently failed to reassure Yang, who took her sister’s arm and started navigating her out of the gym. “Ok, clearly _not_ okay, Gemma, Hahli, help me get her outside, somewhere we can sit her down. Together the girls guided Ruby outside and back toward the cafeteria, where they navigated her to a booth in the corner and leaned her up against the cushions.

* * *

The rest of the night passed in a blur to Ruby. Yang, Gemma, and Hahli sat with her until the dance ended, occasionally trying to convince her to take sips of water or bites of food, to some of which she obliged. Then they led her back to the limo, where the latter two made sure she stayed safe inside the vehicle while Yang took Bumblebee back to the Hock mansion. There they split up, agreeing that Yang’s motorcycle was the best way to transport Ruby back to their own house. Gemma would take Ruby back in her car, while Yang tailed them on her bike, the convertible only having two seats. It was during this trip Ruby regained her voice, and more control over her motor functions.

“Hey Gems?” Ruby rasped, her eyes immediately widening at how dry her throat was. Thankfully there was an opened water bottle in her cup holder, which she eagerly drank from.

“Oh thank _gods_ , you can talk again,” Gemma exclaimed, whipping her head back and forth to keep an eye each on the road and her passenger. “Yes, good, drink water, goodgoodgoodgood.” After emptying the bottle, Ruby finally took it from her lips.

“ _Oh_ that feels so much better,” Ruby gasped. “ _Now_ I can ask what the _fuck_ happened back there??? How the fuck did I even get nominated for Prom Queen, and by what fucking miracle did I _win???_ ” She looked down at the sash draped across her front, thankfully partially covered by the seatbelt. White with gold trim, large pink letters spelling out “Signal Prom Queen” in a script font along the length. While being named ‘Queen’ was affirming and made her feel good every time she read it, Ruby wasn’t quite sure it was worth this whole event. “This was all Yang’s idea, right?” she asked. “I mean, it feels like something she’d do, get me named Prom Queen to try and feel better about myself and being trans or whatever?” She watched Gemma bite her lip and bob her head side-to-side, as if internally debating something.

“Not quiiiite…” was her response. Ruby raised a single eyebrow and waited for a response as Gemma scratched the back of her neck and let out a guilty chuckle. “Your sister _did_ do like, most of the planning, actually, like, submitting you as a candidate and convincing people to actually, y’know, vote for you, but no it wasn’t her idea. It was mine.” Ruby’s eyes widened and she practically froze in her seat.

“Explain.” Ruby briefly worried the request came out too harsh and whether or not she should soften it, but was too shock-addled to follow-through on the decision. She sat and waited in silence as Gemma obviously mulled over what to say, her head tossing this way and that as she internally debated. Finally, the blonde girl broke the silence.

“Okay, so,” she began, taking great care in her choice of words. “It’s gonna sound like I’m making excuses for myself, but I want you to know, I promise I’m not. I know I fucked up, I know there were several things I could’ve -- or I guess _should’ve_ done differently, and I’ll be the first to admit there were just straight-up things I didn’t know or even think about.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “On Tuesday after practice, Yang was telling me that she convinced you to come tonight, but you weren’t, like, the happiest about it. I dunno, like I hardly saw you this week, just in the hallways outside of class a couple times, and even I could tell something was up. I mean, you just seemed a lot more subdued than normal, less...energetic I guess? So when Yang and I were talking, I wanted to do something to cheer you up, y’know? And I happened to see a poster advertising prom and I thought like ‘Hey, lots of little girls want to be prom queen, right?’” Ruby opened her mouth to object, but Gemma cut her off with a pointed finger. “Now before you get mad at me for comparing you to a little girl, my thought process was that you didn’t get a chance to grow up as a girl, you’re going through some of those feelings and stuff now. Apparently that’s a fairly common thing among like, gay and trans people? Like when they’re in their 20s they’ve missed out on milestones straight people hit in like their early teens? I dunno, what I’m trying to say is I was trying to give you an opportunity to be more like a cis girl, I guess?” While Ruby didn’t necessarily agree with Gemma’s thoughts or actions, she could see where the girl was coming from, and she clearly at least _seemed_ to have Ruby’s best interests at heart. 

“I see.” Ruby said, perhaps a bit icily. “But how did you make me win? Prom Court is basically just a giant popularity contest, and I’m not exactly one of the ‘cool kids’, you know?”

“Oh, that I’m not sure about,” Gemma explained, her tone more casual again. “I just brought up the idea as like kinda a joke on Tuesday night, but Yang said she’d take care of the rest. Oh, and to not tell you about it, but I think that much was obvious, haha.” Gemma watched the road as she talked, while Ruby turned her attention out the window, lost in thought. Several aspects of the night, and the whole day in general, stood out to her. Gemma had mentioned she thought one of the girls on the team had a crush on Ruby, but none of them had shown any hint of harboring feelings for her. In fact, she’d barely spoken to any of them at all tonight, and none of them had spent any sort of time with her outside of the main group. Except one. None of them except Gemma.

But that couldn’t be right. Maybe one of the younger team members liked Ruby, or one of the girls who just wasn’t there tonight. Gemma just saw Ruby as she always had, right? Just a childhood friend? That’s why she’d been the one to take Ruby dress-shopping, because Ruby was at least somewhat familiar with her. _“But she didn’t let me pay,”_ Ruby thought to herself. _“No, that’s just because she got the discount and I didn’t have enough money, I’ll pay her back later.”_ No, Gemma told Ruby herself she was straight. There was a logical, platonic reason for everything Gemma had done involving Ruby tonight; there had to be. She had done Ruby’s makeup because that’s a thing girls do, right? And she’d kept Ruby company in the limo because Ruby hardly knew anyone and she didn’t want her to feel left out. She’d mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ when dragging Ruby onstage for Prom Queen and stayed with her in her catatonic state because she felt guilty for putting Ruby through this. She came and comforted Ruby during the dance because they were playing slow, romantic music and she was worried about her favorite Rose-Xiao Long- Oh.

_Oh._

Ruby Rose was almost 100% certain Gemma Stone had a crush on her. A crush that she didn’t reciprocate, at least not anymore. Fuck.

“Hey, Gemma?” Ruby asked, her mouth suddenly as dry as the Vacuan desert. She took a swig from the water bottle and set it back in the cupholder, fiddling with the cap in her hands. “Can I… ask you something?” She kept her eyes down, hair falling in front of her face and shielding her eyes from Gemma’s soon-to-be-probing gaze. They were stopped at a light, the front seat of the car bathed in red, and Gemma could tell something was weighing heavy on her friend’s mind.

“Um… yeah, sure. Everything okay?” Gemma waited until they were moving again to answer, each second bringing more doubts into Ruby’s mind. What if she was wrong, and Gemma really _did_ just see Ruby as a friend? Would she see Ruby as presumptuous for asking if she had a crush on her? What if she got mad at Ruby for asking? _“No, I need to do this.”_ Ruby told herself.

“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry. I just…” she looked up at the girl in the driver’s seat, watching for any miniscule reaction. “Do you have a crush on me?” The effect was immediate. Gemma’s arms immediately tensed up, her eyes widening as she shifted in her seat.

“I…...uh……” Gemma stammered. “I……...Yeah, I’m pretty sure I do.” The admission caught Ruby by surprise, and it was her turn to freeze with widened eyes.

“Oh. Um, being totally honest, I didn’t really expect you to say that,” Ruby replied. “But, um, I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but aren’t you straight? I’m a _girl_.” She emphasized the last point, hoping Gemma picked up on the point that she shouldn’t call herself straight if she liked a trans girl.

“Yeah, about that… I don’t know?” Gemma offered as the car pulled into the driveway to the Rose-Xiao Long household. Ahead of them, Yang was leaning against a parked Bumblebee, watching the two girls drive up. She made no reaction as Ruby waved at her, so Ruby quickly pulled out her phone to tell the older girl that she didn’t need to wait, Ruby was fine, she and Gemma just needed to sit in the car and talk for a little bit. ALONE, she added in all caps. Gods, Ruby wouldn’t hear the end of it if Yang found out she was Gemma’s gay awakening. Message sent, she turned back to Gemma, who shifted the car to park and turned herself back to Ruby. “I’m just not sure I’m straight. I was already kinda lowkey questioning my sexuality before, but then you came out and Yang was showing me pictures of her “baby sister” and I was just like ‘Fuck, she’s cute’. So yeah. I don’t really think I’m 100% fully heterosexual, maybe just… bi with a strong preference for guys?” Her tone was unsure, and Ruby was reminded of when she was younger, trying to figure out her own sexuality, with the added wrinkle of figuring out her gender at the same time. She never told anyone about it, though, too scared of how people might react.

“Well then. This….has been a night,” she said, to no one in particular. “This is… difficult for me to say, and I can only imagine how much _more_ difficult it is for you to hear this, but…” Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath, afraid to witness her friend’s (they’d still be friends, right?) reaction to what she was about to say. “I don’t… feel the same way about you…” she trailed off, the last few words already so quiet she was unsure Gemma even heard her, but a hand on her shoulder disagreed. She opened her eyes to find Gemma smiling at her, a saddened smile on her face.

“That’s… that’s about what I figured,” Gemma said, letting out a soft chuckle.

“Can we, y’know, still be friends?” Ruby asked, trying to not sound _too_ hopeful.

“Oh, of course!” Ruby reached out and wrapped her arms around the taller girl, who tentatively returned the gesture after a moment of confusion. They shared an embrace like that for a few seconds, until Ruby broke away, suddenly realizing she had to pee. 

“Um, I should probably… head inside, Yang’s probably worried sick about me,” she explained, opening the car door and beginning to step out. “I, uh, good luck on figuring out the whole...sexuality thing, I guess? You know if you ever wanna talk about, like, gay stuff, or like figuring things out about yourself, you can just let me know, right?” By now Ruby was fully outside the vehicle, leaning down to see into the front seat.

“ Yeah, of course, thanks Ruby,” Gemma replied, shifting the car to reverse and starting to back up. Ruby was already at the door when the other girl called out “Hey Ruby? I’m really glad you came tonight.” _“Me too,”_ Ruby thought as she waved her friend off. Watching the lights fade into the distance, she opened the door and stepped inside, bracing for the sound of Yang’s voice. This had turned out to be a night she likely wouldn’t forget for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wacky formatting differences between chapters, I bounced between using MS Word and Google Docs, plus AO3's own system is different, and I'm too lazy to figure out workarounds/make everything uniform lmao


	9. Time to Say Goodbye (Acoustic Version)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the time seemed to fly  
> From our carefree lives  
> And the solitude and peace we always knew
> 
> who wants ANGST and EMOTIONS???

The forest was loud, the rustling of leaves mixing with the bird calls that floated on the wind, dodging and weaving through the trunks of trees. The afternoon sun shone through the canopy high above, bathing the path in dappled golden rays and throwing sharp, well-defined shadows across the foliage covering the ground. Cicadas were buzzing in the late August heat, but they were practically silent compared to the ringing in Ruby’s ears. A branch snapped in the distance and she turned her head instantly, eyes frantically searching for the source of the noise. Eventually they settled on a well-camouflaged deer and she let out a sigh of relief, hoping Yang didn’t notice her jumpiness. When had she become so easily scared to begin with? Growing up she’d been oblivious to many things (including signs she might be trans, she later realized) and both her dad and sister had called her out on it, but now she was easily startled by a single sharp sound in an otherwise-noisy forest.

“Hey Yang, why are we doing this again?” she asked, trying to wrench her wrist from Yang’s firm grip. It was of no use though, and her sister continued to lead her down the narrow path, her eyes doing her best to stare a hole into Yang’s skull.

“Becaaaaauuuuse,” Yang began, stalling as she used her free hand to move a branch out of her face, it only narrowly missing Ruby’s on the backswing, “you told me you wanted to come out to mom before school started, but we leave for Beacon in 3 days, and you still haven’t done it!” It was true, Ruby had said that, at least a few times, and she really did want to tell her mom, but she was still incredibly scared, and had always found some excuse not to do it. _‘Oh, it rained recently, the path will be all muddy and I don’t wanna get my shoes dirty’, ‘Yang’s busy and it’s getting late, I don’t wanna walk out there and get lost in the woods at night’_ , things like that.

“Yeah but like, why today of all days?” she retorted. Yang stopped in her tracks and turned around, looking Ruby in the eyes.

“Tell me, Ruby, were you going to do this in the next couple days?” Ruby had to admit, no, she probably wouldn’t do this without some external force or motivation, but that didn’t mean she had to be manhandled on the way there!

“No, probably not,” she conceded. “But can I at least get my hand back? I’m an 18 year old girl, Yang, I think I can walk around without assistance.” Yang let go and turned around, Ruby rubbing the sore spot on her wrist as both girls resumed walking. A silence settled over the pair as they trudged down the path, side-by-side now that it had widened out. It persisted as the trees began thinning, before eventually stopping a good distance from the edge of the cliff. They paused at the edge of the woods, both girls’ eyes fixed on the small monument mere metres ahead of them, but it felt so much longer for Ruby. The distance seemed to stretch on for eternity, infinitely growing as she processed what she was about to do. Without looking, her hand fumbled at her side before finding Yang’s and squeezing.

“I’m scared” was all she could whisper, unable to tear her eyes away from the stone.

“I know,” Yang whispered back, squeezing Ruby’s hand back in what was presumably encouragement. “But remember what Dad said when you told him? Mom loved you for who you are, Ruby or not, and I’m sure she’d be proud of how far you’ve come and where you are, ok? I’ll stay back here unless you say otherwise.” Gods damn it, why was she so supportive??? Ruby hadn’t even approached Summer’s headstone and she already felt tears stinging the back of her eyes.

“Thanks, Yang.” Gathering her strength, Ruby let go of Yang’s hand and took a step forward. And another. And another. Every stride filled her head with new uncertainties and anxieties, but she did her best to keep her sister’s words in mind and kept walking. Within moments the stone monument was at her feet, so she stopped and stared. 

Summer Rose’s gravestone wasn’t a new sight to Ruby. She’d been here many times before, albeit not recently. And by recently, she meant the past, what, 4, 5 years? Basically since she’d started questioning her gender. At first she’d felt like a disgrace, disgusting and undeserving of the love her mother had shown her as a child. Then after...realizing and accepting certain things about herself, she’d just been straight-up too dysphoric and depressed to make her way out here. It looked just as she remembered, save for some faint weathering of the marble. The stylized rose carved above her mother’s name held a special place in Ruby’s mind, something she often found herself doodling in the margins of notebooks, but the part of the whole thing that tugged at her heartstrings was the engraved quote at the base of the plaque: “Thus Kindly I Scatter”. Ruby hardly remembered anything about her mom, but what she did remember, coupled with stories told to her by Yang and their dad, she was very kind and caring to everyone, not just her family.

“Hey mom, it’s me, your kid. The biological one this time,” she began, attempting to inject some levity in the situation. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to visit in a while, I’ve just… had a lot going on.” A silence settled over her, and Ruby just felt _lost_. Lost in what there was to talk about, lost in where to begin, lost in all the things she wanted to say. Five years was a long time, and she didn’t know what Yang had said the many times she’d been here in that period. “Yang probably already told you, but we graduated from Signal a couple months ago. Graduation kinda sucked, but I think that’s just a universal experience, Dad told us his wasn’t much fun either. Oh, and we both got into Beacon! We leave for fall term in a couple days, actually. Dad and Uncle Qrow said they’d show us spots where you guys all hung out when you went, too.”

…

… 

… 

“I miss you, y’know?” Ruby’s voice was weak, and she had to bite back tears. “Like, a lot. I know, I know, I’m the one who didn’t come visit you, but it wouldn’t have helped even if I did. It just… it would’ve been nice to have you help guide me through things. A lot easier for me, at least.” She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the next things she wanted to say.

“Dad told me when I was little you thought I might be transgender, that I wanted to be a girl instead of a boy.”

A pause.

“You were right.” Ruby smiled softly, a single tear running down her cheek as she stared out to the horizon over the ocean. Her hands subconsciously fumbled with the hem of her skirt and she continued. “My name is Ruby Rose, I’m an 18 year old trans girl, and my pronouns are she and her.” 

It was such a simple thing to say, especially standing on an empty cliff top overlooking the sea, but it simultaneously felt like such a load off Ruby’s shoulders. How many months, how many _years_ had she put off talking about this very thing right here? Too many, that’s for sure. But now that she’d started, she almost didn’t want to stop. She wanted to talk about how Yang found out, and when she’d come out to Tai, and how Yang had convinced her to go to prom in a dress _and then made her Prom Queen_ . How she’d almost cried tears of joy when the headmaster of Signal had read out her name at graduation, the fact that both Uncle Qrow and her dad repeatedly told her how much she looked like Summer, how damn supportive and _accepting_ everyone had been when she’d told them, but most of all, how the past two and a half years since accepting her identity had been literally the best times in her life. A warm breeze came rolling off the waves and Ruby felt her hair rustle in the wind.

“I started hormones a while ago. Almost 12 whole months, actually, September 20th of last year. I don’t know if it’s because I started taking antidepressants around the same time, but I’ve just felt… _so_ much better since then. I used to “borrow” clothes from Yang sometimes, so I could feel girly and feminine- although that stuff hasn’t always been her strong suit, so I guess it was more like it made me feel girli _er_ , instead of girl- _y_ full stop, haha. But yeah, I used to steal some of her clothes, like dresses and skirts and stuff, but I always felt awful about the whole thing. Like I was disgusting, a waste of a person, a disgrace of a boy, that I’d never amount to anything good or worthwhile. I usually cried myself to sleep those nights. There were some other, worse things, but I don’t really feel comfortable telling you those thoughts right now.” A breath. “But everything is so much _lighter_ now. I feel like it’s actually possible for me to have a future, one where I can be happy with myself and my body, and one where I can be close to others without having to hide a part of myself.”

“There’s so many things I want to talk about, mom, so many things to tell you about, but Yang’s the one who brought me today and I don’t wanna keep her waiting too long, so I better get going. I promise I’ll be back soon, though. Love you.” With that, Ruby turned to leave, the final words barely a whisper but still hanging in the air. Another soft breeze brushed past her, but this time Ruby could’ve sworn there was a hint of roses carried with it. A slight spring in her step and a melancholic smile on her face, she walked back to the treeline and her sister, feeling much calmer than she had not ten minutes prior.

“You doing ok?” Yang’s tone was laced with concern and Ruby internally laughed at how bad her makeup must look at that moment, as much as she must’ve been crying without noticing.

“Yeah, I’m ok, thanks,” she responded as Yang turned and both girls started down the path home. “Think you can drive me out here again tomorrow?”

“Nah, sorry, Hahli and I are gonna go catch a movie before we both skip town for uni so you'll just have to walk.”

…

…

…

“Did I hear you say you used to steal some of my clothes?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my grandmother passed away 9 years ago today and she was only grandparent I got to know, all the others died when I was very young/before I was born, but she never got to know the real me so uhhhhhh whoops this was a stand-in  
> (no i didn't cry multiple times writing this idk what youre talking abt)  
> ((yes i did just come out to a groupchat just before posting this))

**Author's Note:**

> More chapters and more song lyrics about more trans characters coming later, just wanted to get what I had out while it's still trans day of visibility (missed my time zone by like 1 minute rip)


End file.
